Hoffmann's traditions in E. Poe's story “The devil in the belfry”

In the article the creativity of E. Poe is considered as one of the significant stages in the formation of the “Hoffmann’s text” in American literature. For the first time, an attempt is made to compare the satirical story by E. Poe “The Devil in the Belfry” (1839) from the cycle “Grotesques and Arabesques” with the works of E.T.A. Hoffman. It is argued that the late Romantic traditions of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s fairy tales-capriccio (“The Golden Pot”, “Princess Brambilla”, “Little Zaches”, “The Choice of the Bride”, “The Royal Bride” and “The Lord of Fleas”), which are associated with the satirical perception of the idea of the Golden Age and the problem of the destruction of the romantic ideal, are not only reflected in the story of E. Poe, but have also been reinterpreted. The American writer, creating an ironic image of the ideal Schoolboy city, turns it into an anti-ideal, using Hoffmann’s style, which is based on romantic irony and grotesque. E. Poe continues to reflect on Hoffmann’s topical issues related to the ideas of the destruction of the principle of two worlds and the mechanization of society and man. The realization of this problematic in the story occurs due to romantic oppositions (living - inanimate, order - chaos) and similar images, dating back to the Hoffmann type of the eccentric hero (Belcampo), which symbolizes the creative element. Another Hoffman’s image is a puppet, which reflects the process of spiritual death of society. The complex reproduction of Hoffman’s stylistic features in E. Poe’s story is an example of the further development of European romantic issues and ironic style in American literature.