Features of Hoffman's Poetics in F.M. Dostoevsky's Novel “Demons”

Abstract

The article examines the issue of reception in F.M. Dostoevsky's novel “Demons” of E.T.A. Hoffman's traditions, which go back to the “Elixirs of the Devil”. 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 the problematic, stylistics and figurative system. It is argued that the “Hoffmann’s complex” in Dostoevsky’s novel manifests itself in similar problems: the problem of crime and redemption, which is revealed in the image of Stavrogin; actualization of the problem of mechanization of life and man (representatives of Stavrogin's circle, who behave like obedient puppets, the mechanistic nature of Stavrogin himself, the puppetry of the guests at the ball). Stavrogin is regarded as a Hoffmann type of hero, dating back to the image of Medardus from the Devil's Elixirs, who rushes between God and the devil, which actualizes the Hoffmann plot of apostasy in Dostoevsky's novel. The emphasis is placed on understanding the nature of the duality of the protagonist Stavrogin. The image of Marya Lebyadkina is compared with the image of the mad Quiz from the “Elixirs of the Devil” (the ability to see the true essence of the hero). Special attention is paid to understanding the specifics of Hoffmann's stylistics in the literary text under study, which is represented by “destructive irony” and grotesque, and also manifests itself in romantic oppositions (beautiful – ugly, alive – dead). The results of the study show the presence of a bright layer of the “Hoffman complex” in Dostoevsky's novel “Demons”, which allows us to consider it as a significant stage in the formation of the Hoffman author's text (“supertext”) of Russian literature.