This book is an interdisciplinary collection of essays examining Goethe’s Faust and its derivatives in European, North American, and South American cultural contexts. It takes both a canonic and archival approach to Faust in studies of adaptations, performances, appropriations, sources, and the translation of the drama contextualized within cultural environments ranging from Gnosticism to artificial intelligence. Lorna Fitzsimmons’ introduction sets this scholarship within a critical framework that draws together work on intertextuality and memory. Alan Corkhill looks at the ways in which the authority of the word is critiqued in Faust and Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus.Robert E. Norton revisits the question of Herder as Faust and the early twentieth-century context in which the claim resonated. J. M. van der Laan explores the symbolic possibilities of the mysterious Eternal-Feminine. Frederick Burwick examines Coleridge’s critique of Goethe’s Faust and his own plans for a Faustian tale on Michael Scott. Andrew Bush demonstrates how Estanislao del Campo’s poem “Fausto” retells Gounod’s opera in the sociolect of Argentine gauchos. David G. John examines complete productions of Goethe’s Faust by Peter Stein and the Goetheanum. Jörg Esleben surveys contemporary Canadian interplay with Goethe’s Faust. Susanne Ledanff discusses the significance of Goethe’s Faust for Werner Fritsch’s avant-garde “Theater of the Now.” Bruce J. MacLennan examines Faust from the perspective of a researcher in several Faustian technologies: artificial intelligence, autonomous robotics, artificial life, and artificial morphogenesis.

This book is an interdisciplinary collection of essays examining Goethe's Faust and its derivatives in European, North American, and South American cultural contexts. Topics include the authority of the word in Faust and Dr.Faustus, cultural memory of Herder, the Eternal-Feminine, Coleridge's responses to Faust, Argentinean adaptations, performances by Peter Stein and the Goetheanum, Canadian reception of Faust, Werner Fritsch's multimedia project Faust Sonnengesang, and the relevance of Faust for models of artificial intelligence.

Faust has been called the fundamental icon of Western culture, and Goethe's inexhaustible poetic drama is the centrepiece of its tradition in literature, music and art. In recent years, this play has experienced something of a renaissance, with a surge of studies, theatre productions, press coverage and public discussions. Reflecting this renewed interest, leading Goethe scholars in this volume explore the play's striking modernity within its theatrical framework. The chapters present new aspects such as the virtuality of Faust, the music drama, the modernization of evil, Faust's blindness, the gay Mephistopheles, classic beauty and horror as phantasmagoria, and Goethe's anticipation of modern science, economics and ecology. The book contains an illustrated section on Faust in modern performance, with contributions by renowned directors, critics and dramaturges, and a major interview with Peter Stein, director of the uncut 'millennium production' of Expo 2000.

Cutting-edge scholarly articles on diverse aspects of Goethe and his age, featuring in this volume a special section on the poetics of space in the Goethezeit.

Faust Adaptations, edited and introduced by Lorna Fitzsimmons, takes a comparative cultural studies approach to the ubiquitous legend of Faust and his infernal dealings. Including readings of English, German, Dutch, and Egyptian adaptations ranging from the early modern period to the contemporary moment, this collection emphasizes the interdisciplinary and transcultural tenets of comparative cultural studies. Authors variously analyze the Faustian theme in contexts such as subjectivity, genre, politics, and identity. Chapters focus on the work of Christopher Marlowe, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Adelbert von Chamisso, Lord Byron, Heinrich Heine, Thomas Mann, D. J. Enright, Konrad Boehmer, Mahmoud Aboudoma, Bridge Markland, Andreas Gössling, and Uschi Flacke. Contributors include Frederick Burwick, Christa Knellwolf King, Ehrhard Bahr, Konrad Boehmer, and David G. John. Faust Adaptations demonstrates the enduring meaningfulness of the Faust concept across borders, genres, languages, nations, cultures, and eras. This collection presents innovative approaches to understanding the mediated, translated, and adapted figure of Faust through both culturally specific inquiry and timeless questions.

Since its emergence in sixteenth-century Germany, the magician Faust's quest has become one of the most profound themes in Western history. Though variants are found across all media, few adaptations have met with greater acclaim than in music. Bringing together more than two dozen authors in a foundational volume, The Oxford Handbook of Faust in Music testifies to the spectacular impact the Faust theme has exerted over the centuries. The Handbook's three-part organization enables readers to follow the evolution of Faust in music across time and stylistic periods. Part I explores symphonic, choral, chamber, and solo Faust works by composers from Beethoven to Schnittke. Part II discusses the range of Faustian operas, and Part III examines Faust's presence in ballet and musical theater. Illustrating the interdisciplinary relationships between music and literature and the fascinating tapestry of intertextual relationships among the works of Faustian music themselves, the volume suggests that rather than merely retelling the story of Faust, these musical compositions contribute significant insights on the tale and its unrivalled cultural impact.

Frontcover -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Contributors -- Acknowledgements -- Abbreviations Used in the Notes -- Introduction. Rhapsody and Rebuke: Goethe's Faust in Music -- Part I Goethe's Faust: Content and Context -- 1 The Redress of Goethe's Faust in Music History -- 2 Wagering on Modernity: Goethe's Eighteenth-Century Faust -- 3 Reflectivity, Music and the Modern Condition: Thoughts on Goethe's Faust -- 4 Music and Metaphorical Thinking in Goethe's Faust: The Example of Harmony -- 5 Faust: The Instrumentalisation of an Icon -- Part II Legacies: Goethe's Faust in the Nineteenth Century -- 6 Faust's Schubert: Schubert's Faust -- 7 The Musical Novel as Master-genre: Schumann's Szenen aus Goethes Faust -- 8 The Psychology of Schumann's Faust: Developing the Human Soul -- 9 A Life with Goethe: Wagner's Engagement with Faust in Music and in Words -- 10 Wagner's Ninth: Reading Beethoven with Faust -- 11 Linking Christian and Faustian Utopias: Mahler's Setting of the Schlußszene in his Eighth Symphony -- Part III Topographies: Stagings and Critical Reception -- 12 Operatic Translation and Adaptation: Gounod's Faust, with a Tribute to Ken Russell -- 13 'Adapters, Falsifiers and Profiteers': Staging La Damnation de Faust in Monte Carlo and Paris, 1893-1903 -- 14 Faust in the Trenches: Busoni's Doktor Faust -- Part IV New Directions: Recent Productions and Appropriations -- 15 As Goethe Intended? Max Reinhardt's Faust Productions and the Aesthetics of Incidental Music in the Early Twentieth Century -- 16 Music and the Rebirth of Faust in the GDR -- 17 Music, Text and Stage: Peter Stein's Production of Goethe's Faust -- 18 'Devilishly good': Rudolf Volz's Rock Opera Faust and 'Event Culture' -- Select Bibligraphy -- Index