The “Hoffman Complex” in V. Khotinenko’s film based on F.M. Dostoevsky’s Demons

Abstract

The article examines the reception of the traditions of E.T.A. Hoffman (Elixirs of the Devil) in F.M. Dostoevsky’s novel Demons and the film directed by V. Khotinenko (Demons) (2014). It is proposed to consider the features of Hoffmann’s poetics in the novel of the Russian writer in the form of a “Hoffmann’s complex”, which functions systematically and represents the unity of problematics, images and stylistic techniques. It is argued that the “Hoffman complex” in Dostoevsky’s Demons manifests itself in the following components: an appeal to the problem of crime and redemption, which is revealed in the image of Stavrogin (the motive of the path through crime - pride, adultery, murder – to repentance); in Hoffman’s plot of apostasy; in the actualization of the problem of mechanization of life and man - the puppet representatives of the circle of Stavrogin, the mechanistic nature of Stavrogin himself, the puppetry of the guests at the ball; understanding the nature of duality - internal doubles (demons) and external doubles (Peter Verkhovensky, Shatov); the use of Hoffmann’s stylistics, which is represented by “destructive irony” and the grotesque, manifesting itself in romantic oppositions (beautiful – ugly, alive – dead). It is argued that these components of the “Hoffman complex” not only find expression in the film of V. Khotinenko, but are also complemented by other techniques that point to Hoffmann’s tradition: the emphasis on the plot “crime and repentance”, the development of the image of a double, the introduction of the image of a butterfly, actualizing the oppositions living – dead and beautiful – ugly, a new version of the finale, reflecting Hoffmann’s idea of the way to finding oneself. The results of the study show the presence of the “Hoffman’s complex” in the film based on Dostoevsky’s novel Demons, which allows us to consider it as a significant stage in the development of the “Hoffman narrative of Russian literature”.