Eighteenth Century German Fausts

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

J. M. Van Der Laan (Illinois State University)

Ed. by Herbert Rowland, Purdue University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Domains

Literature Topic

Dates

Date of occurrence 1696-1808

Places

Germany (Location)

Resources

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The Literary Origins of Faust in the Sixteenth Century

Faust, the legendary figure who sold his soul to the devil in exchange for extraordinary experience and forbidden knowledge, first became a literary character in the German lands of the sixteenth century, specifically with the novelistic Historie von D. Johann Fausten / dem weitbeschreyten Zauberer vnnd Schwarzkünstler [History of Dr. Johann Faust, the Famous Magician and Necromancer] published (not written) by Johann Spies in 1587. Faust found a receptive audience again in the eighteenth century and became material for a number of writers with various agendas, ranging from investigations into his historical reality and cautionary tales for the pious, to expressions of Enlightened intellectualism, embodiments of Storm and Stress

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8849 words

Citation: Van Der Laan, J. M.. "Eighteenth Century German Fausts". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 January 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=19693, accessed 26 April 2024.]

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