"Emancipation" of the main character in "Small town Tyrant" by Heinrich Mann and "The blue angel" by Josef von Sternberg

The novel "Small town tyrant" by Heinrich Mann is traditionally interpreted as a kind of political satire. The article suggests a new vision of "emancipation" of the main character. On the basis of the comparison of the novel with J. von Sternberg's film "The Blue Angel" "emancipation" is regarded as a symbolical expression of the processes taking place on the verge of the XIX-XX centuries in cultural consciousness at this stage of modernity. The key role in sense construction, related to the concept of modernity, both in the novel and the film is played by the image of Pierrot as a character of "new mythology".