Poetics of "Undine" by E. T. A. Hoffmann in the context of the formation of the German national idea.

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to reveal the genre and style specificity of Undine by E.T.A. Hoffmann in the context of the spiritual and semantic aspects of the German national idea. The methodology of the work is based on the intonational concept of music in the perspective of intonational-stylistic, etymological analysis, succession from B. Asafiev and his followers, as well as interdisciplinary and historical-cultural approaches. Certain fact allows revealing the spiritual and semantic and style specificities of the musical theater of E.T.A. Hoffmann and his contemporaries singled out it from the pan-European cultural area of the first half of the 19th century. The scientific novelty broads the understanding of the poetics of the musical theater of E.T.A. Hoffmann, in particular, the opera "Undine" which serves as one of the samples of the German opera of the period and at the same time demonstrates a deep connection with the genesis of the national idea of Germany. Conclusions. The processes of the formation of the German national idea and the ways of its historical evolution show a close connection with the spiritual values of the German nation, in particular, with respect for the German language, national mythology, culture, complemented by a complex of archetypes of the House, the Family, Ordnung, defining the essence of the "German spirit" (der Teuscher Geist). The latter received the fullest expression in the style searches of German culture of the first half of the XIX century and its musical theater, in particular, in the genre-style specificity of "Undine" by E.T.A. Hoffmann. The ideas of juxtaposing the real and fantastic worlds, the motives for disappointment and awareness of the moral and ethical imperfections of the human world, revealing the romantic qualities of this work, coexist in it with the typology of the German Biedermeier. The mentioned issues are revealed in the intonational homogeneity of the musical language of the opera which unites the real and fantastic worlds, and also in the principal avoidance of dramatic scenes, which are the key moments in the narrative of the literary source of the opera (Fouqué’s story). Also, the role of the moral and didactic factor, the protection of German patriarchal and family values that give the "Undine" E.T.A are essential. Hoffmann created "instructive history" of "German antiquity". The marked style quality determines the specificity of the intonational language of the opera, formed at the intersection of Mozart’s style and the poetics of applied genres (Lied, romance, ballad, etc.).