After this short intro we looked at the initial part of "Le pied de momie" (analysis of setting and characters, with particular attention given to the relevance of the descriptive typology for the construction of the fantastic effect). 

After that, we continued our close reading of the story. Two different perceptions of the narrator emerged in the discussion - one that stressed his rationality and objectivity; one that stressed, on the contrary, his biased perspective on the Venus. We also isolated one key moment in the story, when the narrator decides not to go see the ring at Venus' hand after the wedding: the absence of a witness also puts the reader in the uncomfortable position of being drawn to a supernatural explanation for the killing of Alphonse, but without any real evidence for that (if not for the signs on A's body). Finally, we discussed Mérimée's narrative strategies, namely those aimed at offering ways out from the supernatural while also undermining the credibility of such realistic outcomes. 

As for "The Sandman", we compared the opposite attitudes shown by Nathanael and Clara, one embodying the Romantic mindset, ant the other, a hyper rational take on life itself. Once again, Hoffmann "stages" the Romantic paradox through the use of multiple perspectives, which make the narrative structure of the story very diverse - through letters and a third-person narrative. We also compared Clara and Olympie as two possible containers/audiences for Nathanael's poetic compositions. The automaton (Olympie) ends up being the perfect recipient for his poems, precisely because she cannot react, thus giving Nathanael the illusion of the perfection of his own art. By analyzing the possible outcomes of the Romantic relationship between life and art, we reiterated the theoretical points made in the last session (introduction to Hoffmann's works).