A.K. TOLSTOY AND E.T.A. HOFFMANN. STYLIZATION OF ROMANTIC AND GOTHIC TRADITIONS IN A.K. TOLSTOY’S WORKS

Abstract

Purpose. In this paper, it is Hoffmann’s features in works by A.K. Tolstoy, i.e. Ghoul, Family of a Ghoul, Meeting after Three Hundred Years, a passage of Amena and Don Juan that are studied. The aim of the work is to reveal Hoffmann’s tradition (Gothic and romantic) in works by Tolstoy. The main research method being used is the method of comparative analysis. The main ideas for the analysis of Hoffman’s works in literature of Russia in the nineteenth century were described in the works of A.B. Botnicova, B. Udodov, A.A. Michaleva, I.A. Ignatov, etc. Results. Common features of perception romantic and gothic tradition of Hoffman have been revealed in Tolstoy’s works. Thus, in Don Juan, Tolstoy follows Hoffmann’s tradition in creation of the image of Don Juan. In the passage of Amena Tolstoy brings up the issue of opposition of Christianity and paganism. He develops the plot of apostasy as in Hoffmann’s novel The Devil’s Elixirs. In Ghoul, Hoffmann’s features can be seen in the range of problems (the theme of the ancestral curse, duality, revived portrait), in the similarity of certain images (a man in a Domino, the image of the punch). Tolstoy also uses Hoffmann’s romantic irony and reception of “revival of the inanimate”. In the works Family of a Ghoul, Meeting in Three Hundred Years Hoffmann’s tradition is manifested in the theme of otherworldly forces’ interference in people’s lives, vampirism, “revived” portrait and the image of the cross. Scope of application of the results. The results of the study can be used for researching the Hoffmann’s tradition in the Russian literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Keywords

• Э.Т.А. Гофман
• А.К. Толстой
• язычество
• христианство
• родовое проклятие
• двойничество
• «оживший» портрет
• образ пунша
• романтическая ирония
• «одушевление неживого»