Established criticism argues that the influence of the German fantastic stories of E.T.A. Hoffman... more Established criticism argues that the influence of the German fantastic stories of E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776-1822) on Nikolai Gogol’s Russian supernatural tales was short-lived. This article disagrees. Gogol (1809-1852) achieved literary success in the late 1830s, when the future course of Russian literature was strongly indebted to late German Romantic literary concepts. We trace the relationship of Hoffmann’s short story Don Juan: a Fabulous Incident which Befell a Travelling Enthusiast with the early and late versions of Gogol’s short story The Portrait, showing that Hoffmannesque elements are stronger in the later publication. Our close analysis uses two critical theories: Shlovsky’s concept of defamiliarisation, or ostranienie (Note 1), and Todorov’s theories of the fantastic, the one being apposite on account of its Russian perspective, and the other because of its insights into Gothic literature. We also support our argument by historical and biographical evidence, with the overa...
Ainsworth made his first venture into sensational fiction with ‘The Test of Affection’ (European ... more Ainsworth made his first venture into sensational fiction with ‘The Test of Affection’ (European Magazine, 1822), a tale that relies heavily on artificial ‘SUPERNATURAL’ devices in the ANN RADCLIFFE mode for its effect. It was followed by ‘The Spectre Bride’ (Arliss’s Pocket Magazine, 1822) and his early Gothic tales were collected in his first book, the anonymous December Tales (1823). All of this youthful work — which displays more enthusiasm than polish — was produced while Ainsworth was living in Manchester, where he had been born in 1805.
In this monograph, Val Scullion and Marion Treby situate E.T.A. Hoffmann's fairy-tale opera, Undi... more In this monograph, Val Scullion and Marion Treby situate E.T.A. Hoffmann's fairy-tale opera, Undine (1816), and his first literary fairy tale, The Golden Pot: A Modern Fairy Tale (1814), at the beginning of early German opera; within the developing tradition of German fairy tales; and in the historical context of the gender politics of the early nineteenth century. They examine Hoffmann's critique of contemporary gender differentiation through characters, plot and the very texture of the two works.
This article, through close textual analysis, compares the oral and literary dynamics of two narr... more This article, through close textual analysis, compares the oral and literary dynamics of two narrative pieces: Johann Peter Hebel’s Unexpected Meeting (1811) and E.T.A. Hoffmann’s The Mines of Falun (1819). Against a background of their almost coterminous birth and death dates, respectively 1766-1826 and 1776-1822, and the close publication dates of these narratives, the line of argument explores the individual approaches of Hebel and Hoffmann as they flesh out the same story in completely different ways. It argues that both authors follow their own aesthetic principles, the former influenced by Enlightenment values and the latter mediating the preoccupations of German Romanticism.
Natsume Sōseki (1867-1916) was an eclectic writer and voracious reader during a historical period... more Natsume Sōseki (1867-1916) was an eclectic writer and voracious reader during a historical period when western literary influence flourished in Japan. This article hypothesizes that the German novel, The Life and Opinions of Tomcat Murr (1819-1821), by E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776-1822), is as strong a formative influence in terms of structure and satirical perspective on Sōseki’s novel, I Am a Cat (1905-1907), as other satiric contenders. It pursues this argument by examining correlations between these two polyphonic novels which mix many registers and discourses in a similar way. Biographical, historical and literary analysis underpins this comparison.
As diaries, letters and the intensive intertextuality of his prose fiction show, the German Roman... more As diaries, letters and the intensive intertextuality of his prose fiction show, the German Romantic writer and composer, E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776-1822), was an obsessive bibliophile and polymath. The aim of this article is to explore how far three of his literary fairy tales, The Golden Pot: A Modern Fairy Tale (1814), The Strange Child (1816) and The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (1816), use the generic conventions of the fairy tale, and how far they are influenced by his voracious reading, his encyclopaedic knowledge of literature, and his engagement with contemporary debates. We conclude with brief observations about his literary legacy in the genres of fairy tales and fantasy fiction.
This socio-linguistic study of a selection of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s literary fairy tales, particularl... more This socio-linguistic study of a selection of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s literary fairy tales, particularly “Princess Brambilla: A capriccio in the style of Jacques Callot” (1820), focuses on his revisioning of contemporary social discourses on gender. Conventionally, these discourses depicted men as dominating and women as subservient, whereas Hoffmann’s wide range of fairy-tale characters subverts a strict gender differentiation. The authors’ use of a Bakhtinian method to disentangle interdependent narrative strands in this carnivalesque fairy tale reveals its lack of a single patriarchal ideology. By exploring the relationship between “Brambilla”’s unconventional heroine Giacinta-Brambilla, and unheroic hero Giglio-Chiapperi, their argument demonstrates how Giacinta’s dominance facilitates Giglio’s developing self-knowledge. Through examining differing critical interpretations of Hoffmann’s presentation of women, the authors argue that, set against the normative values of his time, “Princ...
Established criticism argues that the influence of the German fantastic stories of E.T.A. Hoffman... more Established criticism argues that the influence of the German fantastic stories of E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776-1822) on Nikolai Gogol’s Russian supernatural tales was short-lived. This article disagrees. Gogol (1809-1852) achieved literary success in the late 1830s, when the future course of Russian literature was strongly indebted to late German Romantic literary concepts. We trace the relationship of Hoffmann’s short story Don Juan: a Fabulous Incident which Befell a Travelling Enthusiast with the early and late versions of Gogol’s short story The Portrait, showing that Hoffmannesque elements are stronger in the later publication. Our close analysis uses two critical theories: Shlovsky’s concept of defamiliarisation, or ostranienie (Note 1), and Todorov’s theories of the fantastic, the one being apposite on account of its Russian perspective, and the other because of its insights into Gothic literature. We also support our argument by historical and biographical evidence, with the overa...
Ainsworth made his first venture into sensational fiction with ‘The Test of Affection’ (European ... more Ainsworth made his first venture into sensational fiction with ‘The Test of Affection’ (European Magazine, 1822), a tale that relies heavily on artificial ‘SUPERNATURAL’ devices in the ANN RADCLIFFE mode for its effect. It was followed by ‘The Spectre Bride’ (Arliss’s Pocket Magazine, 1822) and his early Gothic tales were collected in his first book, the anonymous December Tales (1823). All of this youthful work — which displays more enthusiasm than polish — was produced while Ainsworth was living in Manchester, where he had been born in 1805.
In this monograph, Val Scullion and Marion Treby situate E.T.A. Hoffmann's fairy-tale opera, Undi... more In this monograph, Val Scullion and Marion Treby situate E.T.A. Hoffmann's fairy-tale opera, Undine (1816), and his first literary fairy tale, The Golden Pot: A Modern Fairy Tale (1814), at the beginning of early German opera; within the developing tradition of German fairy tales; and in the historical context of the gender politics of the early nineteenth century. They examine Hoffmann's critique of contemporary gender differentiation through characters, plot and the very texture of the two works.
This article, through close textual analysis, compares the oral and literary dynamics of two narr... more This article, through close textual analysis, compares the oral and literary dynamics of two narrative pieces: Johann Peter Hebel’s Unexpected Meeting (1811) and E.T.A. Hoffmann’s The Mines of Falun (1819). Against a background of their almost coterminous birth and death dates, respectively 1766-1826 and 1776-1822, and the close publication dates of these narratives, the line of argument explores the individual approaches of Hebel and Hoffmann as they flesh out the same story in completely different ways. It argues that both authors follow their own aesthetic principles, the former influenced by Enlightenment values and the latter mediating the preoccupations of German Romanticism.
Natsume Sōseki (1867-1916) was an eclectic writer and voracious reader during a historical period... more Natsume Sōseki (1867-1916) was an eclectic writer and voracious reader during a historical period when western literary influence flourished in Japan. This article hypothesizes that the German novel, The Life and Opinions of Tomcat Murr (1819-1821), by E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776-1822), is as strong a formative influence in terms of structure and satirical perspective on Sōseki’s novel, I Am a Cat (1905-1907), as other satiric contenders. It pursues this argument by examining correlations between these two polyphonic novels which mix many registers and discourses in a similar way. Biographical, historical and literary analysis underpins this comparison.
As diaries, letters and the intensive intertextuality of his prose fiction show, the German Roman... more As diaries, letters and the intensive intertextuality of his prose fiction show, the German Romantic writer and composer, E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776-1822), was an obsessive bibliophile and polymath. The aim of this article is to explore how far three of his literary fairy tales, The Golden Pot: A Modern Fairy Tale (1814), The Strange Child (1816) and The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (1816), use the generic conventions of the fairy tale, and how far they are influenced by his voracious reading, his encyclopaedic knowledge of literature, and his engagement with contemporary debates. We conclude with brief observations about his literary legacy in the genres of fairy tales and fantasy fiction.
This socio-linguistic study of a selection of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s literary fairy tales, particularl... more This socio-linguistic study of a selection of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s literary fairy tales, particularly “Princess Brambilla: A capriccio in the style of Jacques Callot” (1820), focuses on his revisioning of contemporary social discourses on gender. Conventionally, these discourses depicted men as dominating and women as subservient, whereas Hoffmann’s wide range of fairy-tale characters subverts a strict gender differentiation. The authors’ use of a Bakhtinian method to disentangle interdependent narrative strands in this carnivalesque fairy tale reveals its lack of a single patriarchal ideology. By exploring the relationship between “Brambilla”’s unconventional heroine Giacinta-Brambilla, and unheroic hero Giglio-Chiapperi, their argument demonstrates how Giacinta’s dominance facilitates Giglio’s developing self-knowledge. Through examining differing critical interpretations of Hoffmann’s presentation of women, the authors argue that, set against the normative values of his time, “Princ...
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