A. A. Bely and E. T. A. Hoffmann. Hoffmann’s style in the works of A. Bely

The article explores the features of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s style that were reflected in the works of A. Bely: romantic irony and grotesque, psychologism, the use of doppelgängers, the motifs of carnivalesque and puppets, musicality. The author demonstrates that Hoffmann’s features reveal themselves to the fullest extent in the “Symphonies” and include the conventionally fantastic, fairytale world in Hoffmann’s style, romantic irony that is combined with everyday details, bi-worldness (“dvoemirie”), psychologism and the theme of doppelgänger. In Bely’s works, as well as in Hoffmann’s, the romantic irony expresses itself through the motifs of carnivalesque, puppets and realistic grotesque. Domino masks in Bely’s works are often connected with the images of insane laugh, the dance of macabre and the theme of fire. The complex of these motifs traces back to Hoffmann’s novella “Sandman”. Hoffmann’s influence can also be seen in Bely’s novel “Petersburg”. All these observations allow us to talk about the presence of similar stylistic devices as well as the concurrence of certain images, plots and creative principles.