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)

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 …

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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://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=19693, accessed 22 November 2024.]

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