GERM 233 - Faust and the Faustian

Faust—the scholar who makes a deal with the devil in order to achieve knowledge, love and power—is one of the great myths of modernity. In this course we will study the figure of Faust and roots of the Faustian tradition. We will try to understand why this particular myth has resonated so strongly in modern Western culture. In particular, we will examine the ways in which the Faust story has been used to examine: knowledge, scholarship and the academic life; the creative process; political and historical questions, particularly the Holocaust; gender and the apparent masculinity of this story; and humanity’s perfectibility and/or guilt. Primary texts for the course will include Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, Goethe’s Faust, Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, Thomas Mann’s Doctor Faustus, as well as operas and films.

Students who take the course for credit in German will be reading portions of some of the texts in German and will be able to offeCr insights based on their experiences with the original versions of the tests.

Placement Guidelines
Please visit the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures for the language placement guidelines.