Title: Aesthetic Dilemma and Judicial Conundrum: On the Aesthetics of Mediation in E. T. A. Hoffmann’s Das Fräulein von Scuderi

Abstract: In E. T. A. Hoffmann’s novella Das Fräulein von Scuderi, the conflict between art and reality, alongside the opposition between the court of reason and the court of morality, constitutes the central theme of the Aesthetics of Mediation. Through the story of the 17th-century French writer Mademoiselle de Scudéri, Hoffmann dramatizes the dilemma arising from the binary opposition between art and morality, as well as the complexities inherent in judicial judgment. Ultimately, he achieves a limited reconciliation between art and reality through the Aesthetics of Mediation. The novella’s engagement with the contemporary tension between artists and society reflects Hoffmann’s profound concern with aesthetic predicaments. Furthermore, his practical application of Aesthetics of Mediation, coupled with his use of romantic irony, underscore both the complexity and the enduring relevance of the relationship between art and reality.

Keywords: E. T. A. Hoffmann, Das Fräulein von Scuderi, Aesthetics of Mediation, art and reality

Authors: Minyue Shi, Associate Professor, School of Foreign Languages, Nanchang Hangkong University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China; Lijuan Zhu, School of Foreign Languages, Nanchang Hangkong University, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China.

DOI: 10.19967/j.cnki.flc.2026.01.014