The starting point of this study is the history of the reception of the German romantic writer E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776-1822) in Russia, which reached a highpoint around 1830. The interest in Hoffmann at this time is also reflected in the literary production of some Russian authors. One of the most important pioneers in this area was Antonij Pogorel'skij (1787-1836), at the present time an almost forgotten writer who, nevertheless, is regarded as the first significant representative of the so-called "Russian Hoffmannism." / This study sets out to analyze two comparable short stories, E. T. A. Hoffmann's "Der Sandmann" (The Sandman) and A. Pogorel'skij's "Pernicious Consequences of an Unrestrained Imagination". Besides the extensive comparative interpretation which concerns itself with the questions of origin and genre, as well as plot and character analysis, this study offers an insight into the structure and function of elements of the uncanny in these texts and their realisation in the rhetorical sphere. The correspondence in the content of these two stories justifies the title, "Mystery and Imagination", which has been borrowed from E. A. Poe.

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