Daniil D. Cherepanov, PhD in Philology, Associate Professor, Department of History of Foreign Litera- ture, Faculty of Philology, Lomonosov State University of Moscow (MGU), Leninskie Gory, 1, 119991, Moscow, Russia. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9665-6108
This article suggests a new point of view on the relationship between E.T.A. Hoffmann and other writers of German Romanticism. Early German Romanticists believed in art as a unique source of poetic knowledge; such beliefs were an important part of “Kunstreligion” (religion of art / art as religion). It is demonstrated that Hoffmann adapted this notion, as it was represented by L. Tieck, W.H. Wackenroder, Novalis. The study traces the evolution of Hoffmann’s poetic gnoseology between 1809 and 1821. His early works, Ritter Gluck and Don Juan, are contrasted both with the writings of early Romanticism and with his later collection, Die Serapionsbrüder. By analysing the complex narrative structures of the latter, the article reveals a shift in Hoffmann’s thought from the gnoseological optimism of his early period towards fundamental uncertainty. This uncertainty is shown to be not merely an aesthetic principle but an element of a sophisticated worldview. The frame narrative and the stories within Die Serapionsbrüder are examined as an interconnected nexus of images and motives. This approach uncovers new aspects of Hoffmann’s ideas, suggesting that the writer’s relationship with Jena Romanticism was closer than has previously been recognized.
E.T.A. Hoffmann; Novalis; L. Tieck; romanticism; “Die Serapionsbrüder”; “Ritter Gluck”; “Don Juan”
10.02.2026
09.03.2026
Cherepanov, D.D. “Poetic Knowledge in E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Die Serapionsbrüder”. Literaturovedcheskii zhuurnal, no. 2(72), 2026, pp. 9–30. (In Russ.)
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