Narration peculiarities in Vladimir Nabokov's stories about artists

The article reviews the narrative mastery of Vladimir Nabokov in the stories about artists from the collection "The Return of Chorb". The focus is on "The Passenger" story, while other pieces - “Bachmann”, “Spring in Fialta”, “Potato Elf’ are involved in the analysis in connection with the idea of the writer's artistic manifesto expressed in the stories. Despite the difference in a manner, type and structure of narration, the selected stories reveal the author's strategy, emphasizing the important role of the reader in the narrative, and mandatory appeal to the reader. It is the importance of dialogue with the reader that provides the originality to the way how Nabokov solves the theme of creativity and the image of an artist. The article concludes that in these stories about artists Nabokov consciously unites the author with his addressee in considering the nature of creativity, and this is facilitated by the choice of a particular form of narration in each case.