A dimensão ecfrástica nos contos de E.T.A. Hoffmann: um estudo propedêutico para a abordagem de narrativas metamusicais

Abstract

This study of the ekphrastic dimension in E.T.A. Hoffmann s short stories deals with the relationship between the arts, namely, the links between painting, music and literature, in the process of creating his musical narratives. Musician, writer, critic and musical aesthete, as well as a jurist, the German author from Königsberg was also a painter. Ekphrasis has its origins in ancient oratory, and eventually found application in the plastic arts, especially painting, renewing its relevance for literature; it can also be identified in music, which makes it a consequential intermedial device in that author s work. Organized in three parts, this research seeks to survey the interpenetration of music and painting in Hoffmann s literary works, as well as the critical-theoretical intuitions therein. The first chapter presents an artistic-biographical topography of Hoffmann, showcasing his activities in painting and music. The second chapter emphasizes theoretical approaches dealing with merging borders in poetical representation, namely, the concepts of ekphrasis, intermediality, Pathosformel and the Serapiontic principle. Among the various theorists at the foundations of this work are Lessing, Clüver, Schröter, Bruhn, Mai Al-Nakib, Kumbier and Warburg, drawing from Tomlinson s theories, and put to dialogue with Hoffmann s own theories. Finally, the third chapter examines the ekphrastic device in two short stories, Die Fermate (The Fermata) and Rat Krespel (Counselor Krespel). These analyses afford the conclusion that the ekphrastic topos leads to the idea of metamusical narrative.