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Literary notes about Mystification (AI summary)

In literature, the term "mystification" appears as a versatile device—sometimes signifying the deliberate concealment or distortion of truth, while at other times serving as a metaphor for confusion and pretense. For instance, in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s work, the phrase is used to indicate a moment when a character consciously sets aside any air of ambiguity or deception ([1]). Edgar Allan Poe employs the term repeatedly to illustrate both absurd and elaborate instances of artifice, ranging from fabricated affidavits ([2], [3]) to an overall whimsical manipulation in tone ([4], [5]), while John Buchan portrays characters who perform mystification as if it were an act or role with calculated finesse ([6]). Additionally, mystification may extend to more physical or narrative surprises, as seen in the sudden appearance of a barking dog that completes a character’s mystified state in folklore ([7]), or it is invoked to critique manipulative strategies of leadership, as highlighted in the ancient treatise of Sunzi on the art of war ([8]). Across these examples, mystification is never merely decorative language but a tool that underscores themes of deception, identity, and the blurred lines between reality and performance.
  1. Now he was peremptory, stern, frowning and for once laying aside all mystification.
    — from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  2. Affidavits of this character are readily made matter of mystification.
    — from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition by Edgar Allan Poe
  3. Affidavits of this character are readily made matter of mystification.
    — from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 1 by Edgar Allan Poe
  4. A PREDICAMENT MYSTIFICATION DIDDLING
    — from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition by Edgar Allan Poe
  5. A PREDICAMENT MYSTIFICATION DIDDLING
    — from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition by Edgar Allan Poe
  6. The light in the room was dim, but so far as I could see their faces, they played the part of mystification very well.
    — from The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan
  7. His mystification was complete when there came bounding towards him a huge dog, barking furiously.
    — from British Goblins: Welsh Folk-lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions by Wirt Sikes
  8. But how about the other process—the mystification of one's own men?
    — from The Art of War by active 6th century B.C. Sunzi

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