The functions of Goethe’s portrayal in the novel “Steppenwolf” by Hermann Hesse

Doklady Bashkirskogo Universiteta. 2017. Volume 2. No. 2. pp. 282-286.

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The article examines the sense-making process of “Steppenwolf” by H. Hesse which is revealed by ekphrasis. The word description of Goethe’s portrait became not only the structural and semantic unit of the text synthesizing pictorial art and literature, but also the source for creating the model of the world and a man through the hero’s perception of Goethe’s portrait, the receptivity to read the implication of the novel. The engraving that depicts Goethe plays a very important role for the structure of the novel, preparing and psychologically explaining the climax of the romantic conflict between the hero and bourgeois majority.