Few authors in the Western literature have acquired such a monumental reputation as Thomas Mann and Fyodor Dostoyevsky; although with different backgrounds and aesthetic peculiarities, their writings converge thematically in their frequent relationship with disease. From Dostoyevsky’s struggle with epilepsy to Mann’s descriptions of tuberculosis and cholera, many are the examples found in their body of work describing medical afflictions. One noteworthy similarity in their works is the presence of hallucinations with Mephistopheles-like devilish entities, possibly caused by neurological diseases: in Mann’s case, concerning the main character of Doctor Faustus, caused by neurosyphilis, while for Dostoyevsky, concerning one of the titular Brothers Karamazov, by delirium tremens. In both cases, the authors leave room for ambiguity, with the characters themselves casting doubts on whether their experiences were indeed caused by their disease or by an actual supernatural being. In this, we may find an interesting intersection between neurology and the literature.

中文翻译：

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魔鬼在细节中：两部文学作品中表现为宗教幻觉的神经系统疾病

西方文学中很少有作家像托马斯·曼 (Thomas Mann) 和费奥多尔·陀思妥耶夫斯基 (Fyodor Dostoyevsky) 那样享有盛誉。尽管有着不同的背景和审美特点，但他们的作品在与疾病的频繁关系中在主题上趋于一致。从陀思妥耶夫斯基与癫痫症的斗争到曼恩对肺结核和霍乱的描述，许多都是在他们描述医学疾病的作品中发现的例子。他们作品中一个值得注意的相似之处是存在与梅菲斯特类似恶魔实体的幻觉，这可能是由神经系统疾病引起的：在曼的情况下，关于浮士德博士的主角，由神经梅毒引起，而在陀思妥耶夫斯基的情况下，关于名义上的兄弟之一卡拉马佐夫，震颤性谵妄。在这两种情况下，作者都留下了歧义的空间，角色本身怀疑他们的经历是否确实是由他们的疾病引起的，还是由真正的超自然生物引起的。在这里，我们可能会发现神经学和文学之间有趣的交叉点。