Abstract
We place "A New Year's Eve Adventure" in its contemporary sociohistorical context, examining literary motifs of devilry, death, and dance and the shaping influence of the cultural practices of dance. We also consider textual references to women depicted in paintings and engravings known to E. T. A. Hoffmann. We compare "Adventure" with contemporary literary fairy tales, emphasizing its resistance to binary gender constructs and conventional moral interpretation. We conclude that the complexity of its structure, transformation of manifold artistic influences, and ironic combination of realism and fantasy all contribute to the feminine tradition of storytelling.
Recommended Citation
Scullion, Val and Treby, Marion. "Devilish Dynamics: Fairy Tale, Dream, Art, and Dance in E. T. A. Hoffmann's "New Year's Eve Adventure"." Marvels & Tales 28.2 (2014). Web. <https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/marvels/vol28/iss2/4>.
