Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Special Section on Goethe and the Postclassical: Literature, Science, Art, and Philosophy, 1805–1815
- Book Reviews
- Johann Wolfgang Goethe and Christian August Vulpius. Circe: Oper mit der Musik von Pasquale Anfossi. Ed. Waltraud Maierhofer. Hannover-Laatzen: Wehrhahn Verlag, 2007. 58 pp.
- Katharina Mommsen, ed. Die Entstehung von Goethes Werken in Dokumenten. Band IV. Entstehen—Farbenlehre. Founded by Momme Mommsen. With the assistance of Peter Ludwig und Uwe Hentschel. Berlin und New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2008. xix + 998 pp., 12 illustrations
- Manfred Zittel. Erste Lieb' und Freundschaft: Goethes Leipziger Jahre. Halle: Mitteldeutscher Verlag, 2007. 247 pp
- Rainer M. Holm-Hadulla, Leidenschaft: Goethes Weg zur Kreativität. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2008. 266 pp
- Michael Hertl, Goethe in seiner Lebendmaske. Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 2008. 140pp.
- Henrik Boëtius, Marie Lousie Lauridsen, and Marie 373 Louise Lefèvre. Light, Darkness and Colours. Brooklyn, NY: Icarus Films, 2000
- Steven Ritz-Barr and Hoku Uchiyama, Faust, Classics in Miniature, 2008. DVD, www.classicsinminiature.com. Home edition: $19.90
- Carsten Rohde, Spiegeln und Schweben: Goethes autobiographisches Schreiben. Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag, 2006. 444pp
- Werner Frick, Jochen Golz, and Edith Zehm, eds., Goethe-Jahrbuch 2005. Volume 122. Göttingen: Wallstein, 2006. 570pp
- J. M. van der Laan, Seeking Meaning for Goethe's Faust. London: Continuum, 2007. 202 pp
- Lorna Fitzsimmons, ed., International Faust Studies: Adaptation, Reception, Translation. London: Continuum, 2008. ix + 299 pp
- Jill Anne Kowalik, Theology and Dehumanization: Trauma, Grief, and Pathological Mourning in Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century German Thought and Literature. Ed. Gail K. Hart et al. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2009. 186 pp
- Paul Bishop, Analytical Psychology and German Classical Aesthetics: Goethe, Schiller, and Jung. London and New York: Routledge, 2008. 233 pp
- Alexander Mathäs, Narcissism and Paranoia in the Age of Goethe. Newark: U of Delaware P, 2008. 255 pp
- Andreas Gailus, Passions of the Sign. Revolution and Language in Kant, Goethe, and Kleist. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. 222pp
- Jocelyn Holland, German Romanticism and Science. The Procreative Poetics of Goethe, Novalis, and Ritter. New York: Routledge, 2009. 221pp
- John A. McCarthy, Remapping Reality: Chaos and Creativity in Science and Literature. (Goethe—Nietzsche—Grass). Amsterdam/New York: Rodopi, 2006. 373 pp
- Matthias Buschmeier, Poesie und Philologie in der Goethe-Zeit: Studien zum Verhältnis der Literatur mit ihrer Wissenschaft. Studien zur deutschen Literatur, Bd. 185. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 2008. 490 S
- Susan Bernstein, Housing Problems. Writing and Architecture in Goethe, Walpole, Freud, and Heidegger. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 2008. 216pp
- Chenxi Tang, The Geographic Imagination of Modernity: Geography, Literature, and Philosophy in German Romanticism. Stanford: Stanford UP, 2008. 356 pp
- Louise von Göchhausen, “Es sind vortreffl iche Italienische Sachen daselbst”: Louise von Göchhausens Tagebuch ihrer Reise mit Herzogin Anna Amalia nach Italien vom 15. August 1788 bis 18. Juni 1790. Ed. Juliane Brandsch. (Schriften der Goethe-Gesellschaft 72.) Göttingen: Wallstein, 2008. 520pp., 7 illustrations
- Matt Erlin, Berlin's Forgotten Future: City, History, and Enlightenment in Eighteenth-Century Germany. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004, 216 pp
- Jost Schillemeit, Studien zur Goethezeit. Ed. Rosemarie Schillemeit. Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag, 2006. 620 pp
- Marjanne E. Goozé, ed., Challenging Separate Spheres—Female Bildung in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Germany. Bern: Peter Lang, 2007. 317pp
- Andrew Cusack, The Wanderer in 19th-Century German Literature: Intellectual History and Cultural Criticism. Rochester, New York: Camden House, 2008. 257 pp
- Grant Profant McAllister, Jr., Kleist's Female Leading Characters and the Subversion of Idealist Discourse. New York: Peter Lang, 2005. Studies on Themes and Motifs in Literature, vol. 75. 210 pp
J. M. van der Laan, Seeking Meaning for Goethe's Faust. London: Continuum, 2007. 202 pp
from Book Reviews
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 March 2018
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Special Section on Goethe and the Postclassical: Literature, Science, Art, and Philosophy, 1805–1815
- Book Reviews
- Johann Wolfgang Goethe and Christian August Vulpius. Circe: Oper mit der Musik von Pasquale Anfossi. Ed. Waltraud Maierhofer. Hannover-Laatzen: Wehrhahn Verlag, 2007. 58 pp.
- Katharina Mommsen, ed. Die Entstehung von Goethes Werken in Dokumenten. Band IV. Entstehen—Farbenlehre. Founded by Momme Mommsen. With the assistance of Peter Ludwig und Uwe Hentschel. Berlin und New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2008. xix + 998 pp., 12 illustrations
- Manfred Zittel. Erste Lieb' und Freundschaft: Goethes Leipziger Jahre. Halle: Mitteldeutscher Verlag, 2007. 247 pp
- Rainer M. Holm-Hadulla, Leidenschaft: Goethes Weg zur Kreativität. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2008. 266 pp
- Michael Hertl, Goethe in seiner Lebendmaske. Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 2008. 140pp.
- Henrik Boëtius, Marie Lousie Lauridsen, and Marie 373 Louise Lefèvre. Light, Darkness and Colours. Brooklyn, NY: Icarus Films, 2000
- Steven Ritz-Barr and Hoku Uchiyama, Faust, Classics in Miniature, 2008. DVD, www.classicsinminiature.com. Home edition: $19.90
- Carsten Rohde, Spiegeln und Schweben: Goethes autobiographisches Schreiben. Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag, 2006. 444pp
- Werner Frick, Jochen Golz, and Edith Zehm, eds., Goethe-Jahrbuch 2005. Volume 122. Göttingen: Wallstein, 2006. 570pp
- J. M. van der Laan, Seeking Meaning for Goethe's Faust. London: Continuum, 2007. 202 pp
- Lorna Fitzsimmons, ed., International Faust Studies: Adaptation, Reception, Translation. London: Continuum, 2008. ix + 299 pp
- Jill Anne Kowalik, Theology and Dehumanization: Trauma, Grief, and Pathological Mourning in Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century German Thought and Literature. Ed. Gail K. Hart et al. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2009. 186 pp
- Paul Bishop, Analytical Psychology and German Classical Aesthetics: Goethe, Schiller, and Jung. London and New York: Routledge, 2008. 233 pp
- Alexander Mathäs, Narcissism and Paranoia in the Age of Goethe. Newark: U of Delaware P, 2008. 255 pp
- Andreas Gailus, Passions of the Sign. Revolution and Language in Kant, Goethe, and Kleist. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. 222pp
- Jocelyn Holland, German Romanticism and Science. The Procreative Poetics of Goethe, Novalis, and Ritter. New York: Routledge, 2009. 221pp
- John A. McCarthy, Remapping Reality: Chaos and Creativity in Science and Literature. (Goethe—Nietzsche—Grass). Amsterdam/New York: Rodopi, 2006. 373 pp
- Matthias Buschmeier, Poesie und Philologie in der Goethe-Zeit: Studien zum Verhältnis der Literatur mit ihrer Wissenschaft. Studien zur deutschen Literatur, Bd. 185. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 2008. 490 S
- Susan Bernstein, Housing Problems. Writing and Architecture in Goethe, Walpole, Freud, and Heidegger. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 2008. 216pp
- Chenxi Tang, The Geographic Imagination of Modernity: Geography, Literature, and Philosophy in German Romanticism. Stanford: Stanford UP, 2008. 356 pp
- Louise von Göchhausen, “Es sind vortreffl iche Italienische Sachen daselbst”: Louise von Göchhausens Tagebuch ihrer Reise mit Herzogin Anna Amalia nach Italien vom 15. August 1788 bis 18. Juni 1790. Ed. Juliane Brandsch. (Schriften der Goethe-Gesellschaft 72.) Göttingen: Wallstein, 2008. 520pp., 7 illustrations
- Matt Erlin, Berlin's Forgotten Future: City, History, and Enlightenment in Eighteenth-Century Germany. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004, 216 pp
- Jost Schillemeit, Studien zur Goethezeit. Ed. Rosemarie Schillemeit. Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag, 2006. 620 pp
- Marjanne E. Goozé, ed., Challenging Separate Spheres—Female Bildung in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Germany. Bern: Peter Lang, 2007. 317pp
- Andrew Cusack, The Wanderer in 19th-Century German Literature: Intellectual History and Cultural Criticism. Rochester, New York: Camden House, 2008. 257 pp
- Grant Profant McAllister, Jr., Kleist's Female Leading Characters and the Subversion of Idealist Discourse. New York: Peter Lang, 2005. Studies on Themes and Motifs in Literature, vol. 75. 210 pp
Summary
Faust lives on, as J. M. van der Laan demonstrates in this monograph that sweeps through the ages from antiquity to postmodernity with a breath-taking audacity not unlike Goethe's own claim to bridge three thousand years in his play. The book first surveys Faustian themes and formats from the earliest chapbook versions to the wealth of literary manifestations, cinematic and musical renditions, and multi-media events. With that context in place, van der Laan then launches an insightful study of Goethe's two-part tragedy highlighting the tensions of the text in ethical and scientific terms alike. He demonstrates that Goethe's Faust goes head-on into debates that still—or, perhaps, even more so— resonate today in the early twenty-first century. These include such issues as the ethical and practical implications of our quest for knowledge, including whether technology is our magical savior or our destructive master, and, whether the “control” of nature is the human domain or our environmental demise. The play's intense offerings lie in its resemblance to the universe: the Faust texts “constitute just such a system [like Stuart Kauffmann's chaotic molecules that develop into complexity], a site at the edge of chaos where order and disorder, stasis and dynamism, consistence and inconsistence meet and interact” (127). Even as van der Laan demonstrates the scientific potential of this play that inspired such thinkers as those who developed chaos theory, Mitchell Feigenbaum and Albert Libchaber, he also clarifies that Faust simultaneously reveals the potential terror and exploitation of the applications of scientific knowledge in technology: “Only in the technological experience does Faust find meaning and satisfaction, but what he actually achieves once again is not true, but what can only be called false, meaning. After all, the story closes with Faust lost in illusion. What meaning does he actually find?” (106). Van der Laan continues with the problem of the Faustian illusion by suggesting that we, like Faust, may pursue knowledge yet actually determine far less than we believe. This he formulates both in the theological terms of good works versus divine grace, but also via complexity theory's exploration of order and chaos in the universe.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Goethe Yearbook 17 , pp. 379 - 380Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2010