DOCSLIB.ORG

Goethe, the Japanese National Identity Through Cultural Exchange, 1889 to 1989

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Goethe, the Japanese National Identity Through Cultural Exchange, 1889 to 1989 Jahrbuch für Internationale Germanistik pen Jahrgang LI – Heft 1 | Peter Lang, Bern | S. 57–100 Goethe, the Japanese National Identity through Cultural Exchange, 1889 to 1989 By Stefan Keppler-Tasaki and Seiko Tasaki, Tokyo Dedicated to A . Charles Muller on the occasion of his retirement from the University of Tokyo This is a study of the alleged “singular reception career”1 that Goethe experi- enced in Japan from 1889 to 1989, i. e., from the first translation of theMi gnon song to the last issues of the Neo Faust manga series . In its path, we will high- light six areas of discourse which concern the most prominent historical figures resp. figurations involved here: (1) the distinct academic schools of thought aligned with the topic “Goethe in Japan” since Kimura Kinji 木村謹治, (2) the tentative Japanification of Goethe by Thomas Mann and Gottfried Benn, (3) the recognition of the (un-)German classical writer in the circle of the Japanese national author Mori Ōgai 森鴎外, as well as Goethe’s rich resonances in (4) Japanese suicide ideals since the early days of Wertherism (Ueruteru-zumu ウェル テルヅム), (5) the Zen Buddhist theories of Nishida Kitarō 西田幾多郎 and D . T . Suzuki 鈴木大拙, and lastly (6) works of popular culture by Kurosawa Akira 黒澤明 and Tezuka Osamu 手塚治虫 . Critical appraisal of these source materials supports the thesis that the polite violence and interesting deceits of the discursive history of “Goethe, the Japanese” can mostly be traced back, other than to a form of speech in German-Japanese cultural diplomacy, to internal questions of Japanese national identity . 1. “Goethe in Japan:” History of an Academic Discourse Research under the heading Goethe in Japan or Nihon ni okeru Gēte 日本にお けるゲーテ reflects a remarkably stable tradition distinguished by schools of thought characteristic of the 20th century Japanese academic system . Already in the second volume of the Monumenta Nipponica, published in 1939, we find an article Goethe in Japan by Jesuit Father Johannes Müller, a Germanist and the library director of the Sophia University in Tokyo . Müller also discharged 1 Osten, War Goethe ein Japaner?, p . 90 (“singuläre Rezeptionskarriere”) . © 2019 Stefan Keppler-Tasaki and Seiko Tasaki - doi http://doi.org/10.3726/JA511_57 - Except where otherwise noted, content can be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. For details go to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 58 | Stefan Keppler-Tasaki and Seiko Tasaki: Goethe teaching assignments at the Tokyo Imperial University and literally rendered “unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” (Matthew 22:21) by certifying its German studies seminar’s leading role in Japanese Goethe philology 2. And yet, his pointedly sober study from the second year of the Pacific War is formulated for a difficult internal Japanese and international situation. The Jesuit was particularly anxious not to create the “erroneous” impression of German literature as taking a preeminent position for itself in the Japanese Empire, because the real “fascination” emanated from the Russian novelists, namely Tolstoy, thus from a fervent Christian .3 With that, he intervened in an interpretational process that Kimura Kinji, a Germanist at Tokyo Imperial University, and Nishida Kitarō, a philosopher at the Kyoto Imperial University, had advanced since the early 1930s . Kimura, vice president of the Goethe Society in Japan (Nihon Gēte kyōkai 日本ゲーテ協会) founded in 1931 with Müller’s support, developed theories of an exclusive German-Japanese affinity among others in his book Japanese Spirit and German Culture (Nihon seishin to doitsu bunka 日本精神と独逸文 化, 1940), whose key concept of Nihon seishin tried to make German notions of the national spirit and national culture productive for building the Japanese identity 4. Kimura had received and accepted the commission for the eponymous subject from the Ministry of Culture, but not without qualms, which he docu- mented in the preface, that “Japanese spirit” was a buzzword risking intellectual decadence 5. This conservative shaped by Buddhism harbored no doubts about the reality of Japaneseness by blood inherited from the ancestors . The problem for him resided in the self-conscious cultivation of a Japanese identity and for which there might exist, if not a German solution, still a solution coming from Germany: the education of the Japanese elite according to Goethean precepts, understood, among others – with quotes from Wilhelm Meister’s Journeyman Years (Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre) – as the flowering of the individuals in harmony with the general and the particular 6. During 1939/40, each of the above-mentioned book’s three chapters was then duly presented as a lecture to high school boys in Sendai, Kanazawa, and Yamagata . The publication as a whole 2 Müller, Goethe in Japan, p . 469 . 3 Müller, Goethe in Japan, pp . 477–78 . Müller represented the Christian line among others also in the first volume of the Japanese Goethe-Jahrbuch, see Müller, Die Form der Goe- thischen Prosaepik . 4 See also Roberts, Literary Nationalism, pp . 81–110 (“Goethe’s Geist and Faustian Tamashii”), especially with reference to Kimura, Nihon seishin to doitsu bunka, pp . 61–116 (“Bunka no mondai to Gēte no Fausuto” 文 化 の 問 題 とゲ ー テ の「ファ ウ スト」) . Here and throughout our translation, unless noted otherwise . 5 See Kimura, Nihon seishin, p . 3 . 6 See Kimura, Nihon seishin, p . 15, and Goethe, Sämtliche Werke, div . I, vol . 10, pp . 557–84 . References to this edition, the Frankfurter Ausgabe, given as FA from here on in; English translations taken from Goethe, The Complete Works . Jahrbuch für Internationale Germanistik, Jahrgang LI – Heft 1 (2019) Peter Lang Stefan Keppler-Tasaki and Seiko Tasaki: Goethe | 59 targeted the male youth of those elite high schools or national colleges (kōtō- gakkō 高等学校), which had been established since the late 19th century for the 12th and 13th grades, not least in consonance with the German gymnasium model . Kimura declared the antidecadent and antiliberal German Reich to be the sole foreign state capable of understanding the Japanese Empire . Goethe would have recognized Japan of the year 1940 as the very culture in which his educational ideas had been implemented to the greatest extent 7. In a private letter, Kimura explained that he had great ambitions to make a Japanese of Goethe and thereby to elevate Japanese culture 8. In his essay Goethe in Japan for the Axis political friendship magazine Berlin – Rom – Tokio he espoused among others the view that Goethe with his own frame of mind had “completely unawares” entered into a “close connection with Japan ”. 9 In 1985, Hermann Schäfer, a German diplomat stationed in Japan who had coordinated Kimura’s propaganda magazine insert, shared his reminiscences under the very same title Goethe in Japan before the German-Japanese Society in Berlin (Deutsch-Japanische Gesellschaft Berlin) 10. This Japanese claim to Goethe in the service of Japanese self-definition did not sit entirely well with the German Reich side . For one, it meant a neglect of contemporary Germany, and, for another, because they pursued the so-called ethnic stocktaking mainly as a parallel project between Germany and Japan, each from its own intellectual tradition, it also meant that on both sides there was a fear of degenerative effects from actual cultural interference 11. However, Kimura, first in his 1933 dissertation Studies on the Young Goethe (‘Wakaki Gēte’ kenkyū 「若きゲーテ」研究 ) and again in his comprehensive 1938 mo- nograph on Goethe, now put a personal stamp on his reading through Shin or “Pure Land” Buddhism . In particular, he realized – and here he deviated from Nazi Faustianism – that Faust’s redemption came not through the protagonist’s “own power” ( jiriki 自力), but rather by the merciful intervention of the “other power” (tariki 他力) 12. And yet, both jiriki and tariki are fundamental concepts in Japanese Buddhism, the latter also being a key concept in Pure Land Bud- dhism and connected to the veneration of the deities of mercy, such as the Amida Buddha and his female attendant Kannon, she of “infinite mercy.”13 This yielded 7 See Kimura, Nihon seishin, p . 41 . 8 See Maeda, Germanistik in Japan, p . 201 . 9 Kimura, Goethe in Japan, p . 21 (“ohne geringste Ahnung […] in eine enge Verbindung mit Japan”) . 10 See Schäfer, Goethe in Japan, pp. 51–52. Kimura’s NS affinity summarized in Maeda, Germanistik in Japan, p . 191 . 11 See Bieber, Deutsch-japanische Kulturbeziehungen, pp . 277–82 . 12 Kimura, Gēte, pp. 6–15. On Kimura’s enthusiastic co-reception of Goethe and Shinran 親鸞, the founder of Shin-Buddhism, see Maeda, Germanistik in Japan, pp . 187–89, 190, 201–03 . 13 See Suzuki, Shin Buddhism, p . 64: „Jiriki is self-power . Tariki is other-power . The Pure Land school [sc . the Shin followers] is known as the other-power school because it teaches Peter Lang Jahrbuch für Internationale Germanistik, Jahrgang LI – Heft 1 (2019) 60 | Stefan Keppler-Tasaki and Seiko Tasaki: Goethe an Asian solution to the riddle of the “mountain gorges” scene, in which Faust, after all his involvement in ghastly acts, is solemnly redeemed . This was supported by Goethe letting the “mater glorisosa” in this scene be addressed in rather unchristian fashion as “goddess:” “Virgin, mother, queen/ goddess gracious be ”. 14 That Faust has to strip off the “superhuman” to be saved and to partake of “love from above” was already taught by Raphael von Koeber, the first holder of a professorship in philosophy at the University of Tokyo, which had a direct impact on his student Abe Jirō 阿部次郎 in the latter’s book The Conquest of Hell (Jigoku no seifuku 地獄の征服) 15. But, as Kimura divulged in a very personal preface to his 1938 Goethe book, he understood his Buddhist theory of salvation less in the humanistic terms of Koeber and Abe and more as a decision for theocratic reverence and against material compensation as the foundation of society .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Chicago Symphony Orchestra
    Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra 2015-2016 Mellon Grand Classics Season April 1, 2 and 3, 2016 MANFRED MARIA HONECK, CONDUCTOR EMANUEL AX, PIANO / , BOY SOLOIST / , SOPRANO / , BASS THE ALL UNIVERSITY CHOIR CHRISTINE HESTWOOD AND ROBERT PAGE, DIRECTORS / CHILDREN’S CHORUS / , DIRECTOR JOHANNES BRAHMS Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major for Piano and Orchestra, Opus 83 I. Allegro non troppo II. Allegro appassionato III. Andante IV. Allegretto grazioso Mr. Ax Intermission CARL ORFF “Fortuna imperatrix mundi” from Carmina Burana for Chorus and Orchestra LEONARD BERNSTEIN Chichester Psalms for Chorus, Boy Soloist and Orchestra I. Psalm 108, vs. 2 (Maestoso ma energico) — Psalm 100 (Allegro molto) II. Psalm 23 (Andante con moto, ma tranquillo) — Psalm 2, vs. 1-4 (Allegro feroce) — Meno come prima III. Prelude (Sostenuto molto) — Psalm 131 (Peacefully flowing) — Psalm 133, vs. 1 (Lento possibile) boy soloist GIUSEPPE VERDI Overture to La forza del destino GIUSEPPE VERDI “Te Deum” (No. 4) from Quattro Pezzi Sacri April 1-3, 2016, page 2 for Chorus and Orchestra soprano soloist ARRIGO BOITO Prologue to Mefistofele for Bass Solo, Chorus, Children’s Chorus and Orchestra bass soloist April 1-3, 2016, page 1 PROGRAM NOTES BY DR. RICHARD E. RODDA JOHANNES BRAHMS Born 7 May 1833 in Hamburg, Germany; died 3 April 1897 in Vienna, Austria Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major for Piano and Orchestra, Opus 83 (1878, 1881) PREMIERE OF WORK: Budapest, 9 November 1881; Redoutensaal; Orchestra of the National Theater; Alexander Erkel, conductor; Johannes Brahms, soloist PSO PREMIERE: 15 January 1909; Carnegie Music Hall; Emil Paur, conductor and soloist APPROXIMATE DURATION: 50 minutes INSTRUMENTATION: woodwinds in pairs plus piccolo, four horns, two trumpets, timpani and strings In April 1878, Brahms journeyed to Goethe’s “land where the lemon trees bloom” with two friends, the Viennese surgeon Theodor Billroth and the composer Carl Goldmark.
    [Show full text]
  • Readingsample
    insel taschenbuch 4325 Das Leben, es ist gut Hundert Gedichte Bearbeitet von Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Siegfried Unseld 1. Auflage 2014. Taschenbuch. 180 S. Paperback ISBN 978 3 458 36025 4 Format (B x L): 11,8 x 18,9 cm Gewicht: 206 g schnell und portofrei erhältlich bei Die Online-Fachbuchhandlung beck-shop.de ist spezialisiert auf Fachbücher, insbesondere Recht, Steuern und Wirtschaft. Im Sortiment finden Sie alle Medien (Bücher, Zeitschriften, CDs, eBooks, etc.) aller Verlage. Ergänzt wird das Programm durch Services wie Neuerscheinungsdienst oder Zusammenstellungen von Büchern zu Sonderpreisen. Der Shop führt mehr als 8 Millionen Produkte. Insel Verlag Leseprobe Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Das Leben, es ist gut Hundert Gedichte Ausgewählt von Siegfried Unseld © Insel Verlag insel taschenbuch 4325 978-3-458-36025-4 Siegfried Unseld hat aus dem umfangreichen lyrischen Werk Goethes hundertGedichte ausgewählt. Hundert Gedichte einesDichters,der »lie- ben können« als höchstes Glück empfand und ein Leben lang dafür den poetischenAusdruck suchte. EssindGedichte,die demewigenVorratder Poesie angehören und bis heute lebendig geblieben sind. Nirgendwo in diesen Zeilen ist Resignation, überall Einverständnis mit der Vergänglichkeit, überall auch die Kraft der Bewahrung und Versöh- nung: »Wie es auch sei das Leben, es ist gut.« Johann Wolfgang Goethe, am 28. August 1749 in Frankfurt am Main ge- boren, verfaßte eine Vielzahl an Dramen, Erzählungen, Romanen, Ge- dichten, Aufsätzen und Abhandlungen und ist einer der bedeutendsten Autoren der Weltliteratur. Goethe starb am 22. März 1832 in Weimar. SiegfriedUnseldwurde1924inUlmgeboren.1952trater indenSuhrkamp Verlag ein und übernahm nach dem Tod Peter Suhrkamps die Verlagslei- tung. Er führte die Suhrkamp Verlagsgruppe bis zu seinem Tod im Jahr 2002.
    [Show full text]
  • Early Faust Literature and Skepticism in the Reformation
    Dustin Lovett 20 Polemical Magic: Early Faust Literature and Skepticism in the Reformation Dustin Lovett (University of California, Santa Barbara) Richard Popkin’s epochal work on the history of skepticism in the Early Modern period1 identifies the seminal gesture of the Reformation, Luther’s rejection of the Catholic church’s entire framework of authority at the Diet of Worms, as the opening of a “Pandora’s Box” that sparked a skeptical crisis, or “crise pyrrhonienne,” which soon engulfed the Western world (5). Popkin’s narrow understanding of the term skepticism and his emphasis on the role of the printed Latin translations of Sextus Empiricus’s work in the 1560s in the birth of modern science have become controversial, but whether one adopts Popkin’s view of an acute crisis in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries or takes a longer and broader view of skepticism,2 the Reformation marks a moment of profound transformation in the history of European thought. As Stuart Clark notes, the temptation “to think of the [Early Modern] period as one of radical epistemological instability” does not exist without reason (1997, 257). In rejecting the authority of the pope and church councils, which had previously arbitrated the nature of truth, in favor of “what conscience is compelled to believe on reading Scripture” (Popkin 3) Luther was redefining the criteria for religious orthodoxy. For centuries, the Catholic church alone had defined the nature of and means of achieving theological principles such as grace or repentance. The spiritual confusion that resulted from Luther’s repudiation of numerous Catholic doctrines finds its reflection in many literary works of the time but perhaps nowhere more potently than in the legend of Faust, which emerged and developed in the early Reformation era into a vehicle for Luther’s radical skepticism toward Catholic doctrines ranging from intercession and repentance to the saints’ cults and miracles.
    [Show full text]
  • Klaus Mann's Mephisto: a Secret Rivalry
    Studies in 20th Century Literature Volume 13 Issue 2 Article 6 8-1-1989 Klaus Mann's Mephisto: A Secret Rivalry Peter T. Hoffer Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science Follow this and additional works at: https://newprairiepress.org/sttcl Part of the German Literature Commons This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. Recommended Citation Hoffer, Peter T. (1989) "Klaus Mann's Mephisto: A Secret Rivalry," Studies in 20th Century Literature: Vol. 13: Iss. 2, Article 6. https://doi.org/10.4148/2334-4415.1234 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in Studies in 20th Century Literature by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Klaus Mann's Mephisto: A Secret Rivalry Abstract Critics of the 1960s and 1970s have focused their attention on Klaus Mann's use of his former brother-in- law, Gustaf Gründgens, as the model for the hero of his controversial novel, Mephisto, while more recent critics have emphasized its significance as a work of anti-Fascist literature. This essay seeks to resolve some of the apparent contradictions in Klaus Mann's motivation for writing Mephisto by viewing the novel primarily in the context of his life and career. Although Mephisto is the only political satire that Klaus Mann wrote, it is consistent with his life-long tendency to use autobiographical material as the basis for much of his plot and characterization. Mann transformed his ambivalent feelings about Gründgens, which long antedated the writing of Mephisto, into a unique work of fiction which simultaneously expresses his indignation over the moral bankruptcy of the Third Reich and reveals his envy of Gründgens's career successes.
    [Show full text]
  • Johann Georg Faust
    Johann Georg Faust Dr. Johann Georg Faust (approx. 1480 – 1540) was a German alchemist who was born in the village of Knittlingen, Württemberg (it is also claimed in Roda in the province of Weimar, and also in Helmstadt near Heidelberg in 1466). He has alternatively been known by the names “Johann Sabellicus” and “Georg Faust.” In 1507, Johannes Trithemius of Sponheim wrote that Faust was a con-man and a drifter who preyed on the gullible. He said he had fled a teaching position in Kreuznach after molesting several of the boys there. He may have then gone on to the University of Heidelberg to study, obtaining a degree in divinity from Heidelberg University in 1509, and then to Poland where a friend of Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, says Faust studied magic at the University of Kraków. Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon are said to have alleged Faust’s companionship with the devil. After that, he appears at the University of Ehrfut in central Germany. It is said that when he lectured on Homer he conjured up Homer’s heroes for his students. He was expelled from Ehrfut by the Franciscan monk Dr. Klinge (who was the cathedral preacher from 1520-1556). Dr. Klinge asked for Faust’s repentance. Faust refused the monk’s offer of intervention and admitted having signed a pact with the Devil, and said that he trusted the Devil more than God. In 1523 he is said to have visited Auerbach’s Tavern in Leipzig where he conjured wine out of a table, and rode a barrel of wine.
    [Show full text]
  • A Hero for All Seasons? Illustrations for Goethe's 'Faust' and the Course
    A Hero for All Seasons? Illustrations for Goethe's 'Faust' and the Course of Modern German History Author(s): Françoise Forster-Hahn Source: Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, 53. Bd., H. 4 (1990), pp. 511-536 Published by: Deutscher Kunstverlag GmbH Munchen Berlin Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1482552 . Accessed: 11/11/2014 09:09 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Deutscher Kunstverlag GmbH Munchen Berlin is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 132.230.242.35 on Tue, 11 Nov 2014 09:09:09 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Franqoise Forster-Hahn A Hero forAll Seasons?Illustrations for Goethe's >Faust<and the Course of Modern GermanHistory Illustrationsconstitute one of the most tangible The changingpictorial representations of Faust recordsof a text'scritical reception over the course clearlybespeak two major shiftsoccurring over of history,particularly so when the artistnegoti- time:one in thereading of the narrative structure, ates a considerablespan of timebetween the pro- the other in the perceptionof its contentand ductionof the textand the creationof the image.
    [Show full text]
  • Soseki's Meian Revisited
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE Soseki’s Meian Revisited: A Fresh Look at a Modem Classic Valdo H. viglielmo INE decades after Natsume Soseki’s death on December 9, 1916, and hence also nine decades after the serialization, in the Asahi Shimbun, of Nhis last novel Meian was broken off on December 14 of that year, twenty- two sections having remained after he collapsed on November 22, both Soseki the author and his unfinished work are the objects of intense scrutiny that gives no sign whatsoever of abating. Every enquete, or anketo 7 yhr— b, of the most favorite author of the Japanese reading public, places Soseki as num­ ber one, always outranking even Mori Ogai (1862-1922) and the two Nobel laureates in literature Kawabata Yasunari WlStV (1899-1972) and Oe Kenzaburo (1935-). Although Meian is not always similarly ranked as the most favorite Soseki novel, it is never absent from among the three or four most admired of his novels. (Clearly Kokoro ’ ’ 7 [Heart, 1914] and Michikusa iSM [Grass on the Way side, 1915] have their ardent admirers.) But I hope I may be forgiven for considering Meian the finest of Soseki’s works, not only because I translated it into English but also because, having explored Soseki’s life and work, or as the French would have it, his vie et oeu­ vre, for well over half a century, I think I am well qualified to assess the rel­ ative merits of his many superb works. With that as a preface, I wish to revisit this unfinished novel and attempt to persuade prospective readers
    [Show full text]
  • Riccardo Muti Conductor Michele Campanella Piano Eric Cutler Tenor Men of the Chicago Symphony Chorus Duain Wolfe Director Wagne
    Program ONE huNdrEd TwENTy-FirST SEASON Chicago Symphony orchestra riccardo muti Music director Pierre Boulez helen regenstein Conductor Emeritus Yo-Yo ma Judson and Joyce Green Creative Consultant Global Sponsor of the CSO Friday, September 30, 2011, at 8:00 Saturday, October 1, 2011, at 8:00 Tuesday, October 4, 2011, at 7:30 riccardo muti conductor michele Campanella piano Eric Cutler tenor men of the Chicago Symphony Chorus Duain Wolfe director Wagner Huldigungsmarsch Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major Allegro maestoso Quasi adagio— Allegretto vivace— Allegro marziale animato MiChElE CampanellA IntErmISSIon Liszt A Faust Symphony Faust: lento assai—Allegro impetuoso Gretchen: Andante soave Mephistopheles: Allegro vivace, ironico EriC CuTlEr MEN OF ThE Chicago SyMPhONy ChOruS This concert series is generously made possible by Mr. & Mrs. Dietrich M. Gross. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra thanks Mr. & Mrs. John Giura for their leadership support in partially sponsoring Friday evening’s performance. CSO Tuesday series concerts are sponsored by United Airlines. This program is partially supported by grants from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts. CommEntS by PhilliP huSChEr ne hundred years ago, the Chicago Symphony paid tribute Oto the centenary of the birth of Franz Liszt with the pro- gram of music Riccardo Muti conducts this week to honor the bicentennial of the composer’s birth. Today, Liszt’s stature in the music world seems diminished—his music is not all that regularly performed, aside from a few works, such as the B minor piano sonata, that have never gone out of favor; and he is more a name in the history books than an indispensable part of our concert life.
    [Show full text]
  • Gunter E. Grimm
    GUNTER E. GRIMM Faust-Opern Eine Skizze Vorblatt Publikation Erstpublikation Autor Prof. Dr. Gunter E. Grimm Universität Duisburg-Essen Fachbereich Geisteswissenschaften, Germanistik Lotharstr. 65 47057 Duisburg Emailadresse: [email protected] Homepage: <http://www.uni-duisburg-essen.de/germanistik/mitarbeiterdaten.php?pid=799> Empfohlene Zitierweise Beim Zitieren empfehlen wir hinter den Titel das Datum der Einstellung oder des letzten Updates und nach der URL-Angabe das Datum Ihres letzten Besuchs die- ser Online-Adresse anzugeben: Gunter E. Grimm: Faust Opern. Eine Skizze. In: Goethezeitportal. URL: http://www.goethezeitportal.de/fileadmin/PDF/db/wiss/goethe/faust-musikalisch_grimm.pdf GUNTER E. GRIMM: Faust-Opern. Eine Skizze. S. 2 von 20 Gunter E. Grimm Faust-Opern Eine Skizze Das Faust-Thema stellt ein hervorragendes Beispiel dar, wie ein Stoff, der den dominanten Normen seines Entstehungszeitalters entspricht, bei seiner Wande- rung durch verschiedene Epochen sich den jeweils herrschenden mentalen Para- digmen anpasst. Dabei verändert der ursprüngliche Stoff sowohl seinen Charakter als auch seine Aussage. Schaubild der Faust-Opern Die „Historia von Dr. Faust“ von 1587 entspricht ganz dem christlichen Geist der Epoche. Doktor Faust gilt als Inbegriff eines hybriden Gelehrten, der über das dem Menschen zugestandene Maß an Gelehrsamkeit und Erkenntnis hinausstrebt und zu diesem Zweck einen Pakt mit dem Teufel abschließt. Er wollte, wie es im Volksbuch heißt, „alle Gründ am Himmel vnd Erden erforschen / dann sein Für- GUNTER E. GRIMM: Faust-Opern. Eine Skizze. S. 3 von 20 witz / Freyheit vnd Leichtfertigkeit stache vnnd reitzte jhn also / daß er auff eine zeit etliche zäuberische vocabula / figuras / characteres vnd coniurationes / damit er den Teufel vor sich möchte fordern / ins Werck zusetzen / vnd zu probiern jm fürname.”1 Die „Historia“ mit ihrem schrecklichen Ende stellte eine dezidierte Warnung an diejenigen dar, die sich frevelhaft über die Religion erhoben.
    [Show full text]
  • Reconsidering the Theoretical/Practical Divide: the Philosophy of Nishida Kitarō
    University of Mississippi eGrove Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2013 Reconsidering The Theoretical/Practical Divide: The Philosophy Of Nishida Kitarō Lockland Vance Tyler University of Mississippi Follow this and additional works at: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd Part of the Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Tyler, Lockland Vance, "Reconsidering The Theoretical/Practical Divide: The Philosophy Of Nishida Kitarō" (2013). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 752. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/752 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at eGrove. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of eGrove. For more information, please contact [email protected]. RECONSIDERING THE THEORETICAL/PRACTICAL DIVIDE: THE PHILOSOPHY OF NISHIDA KITARŌ A Thesis presented in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Philosophy University of Mississippi by LOCKLAND V. TYLER APRIL 2013 Copyright Lockland V. Tyler 2013 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABSTRACT Over the years professional philosophy has undergone a number of significant changes. One of these changes corresponds to an increased emphasis on objectivity among philosophers. In light of new discoveries in logic and science, contemporary analytic philosophy seeks to establish the most objective methods and answers possible to advance philosophical progress in an unambiguous way. By doing so, we are able to more precisely analyze concepts, but the increased emphasis on precision has also been accompanied by some negative consequences. These consequences, unfortunately, are much larger and problematic than many may even realize. What we have eventually arrived in at in contemporary Anglo-American analytic philosophy is a complete repression of humanistic concerns.
    [Show full text]
  • Goethe, with Special Consideration of His Philosophy
    Dear Reader, This book was referenced in one of the 185 issues of 'The Builder' Magazine which was published between January 1915 and May 1930. To celebrate the centennial of this publication, the Pictoumasons website presents a complete set of indexed issues of the magazine. As far as the editor was able to, books which were suggested to the reader have been searched for on the internet and included in 'The Builder' library.' This is a book that was preserved for generations on library shelves before it was carefully scanned by one of several organizations as part of a project to make the world's books discoverable online. Wherever possible, the source and original scanner identification has been retained. Only blank pages have been removed and this header- page added. The original book has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject to copyright or whose legal copyright term has expired. Whether a book is in the public domain may vary country to country. Public domain books belong to the public and 'pictoumasons' makes no claim of ownership to any of the books in this library; we are merely their custodians. Often, marks, notations and other marginalia present in the original volume will appear in these files – a reminder of this book's long journey from the publisher to a library and finally to you. Since you are reading this book now, you can probably also keep a copy of it on your computer, so we ask you to Keep it legal.
    [Show full text]
  • A Discussion of Goethe's Faust Part 1 Rafael Sordili, Concordia University
    Sordili: Nothingness on the Move Sordili 1 Nothingness on the Move: A Discussion of Goethe's Faust Part 1 Rafael Sordili, Concordia University (Editor's note: Rafael Sordili's paper was selected for publication in the 2013 Agora because it was one of the best three presented at the ACTC Student Conference at Shimer College in Chicago in March 2013.) In the world inhabited by Faust, movement is a metaphysical fact: it is an expression of divine will over creation. There are, however, negative consequences to an existence governed by motion. The most prevalent of them is a feeling of nothingness and nihilism. This essay will discuss the relations between movement and such feelings in Goethe's Faust.1 It is my thesis that the assertion of his will to life, the acceptance of his own limitations, and the creation of new personal values are the tools that will ultimately enable Faust to escape nihilism. Metaphysics of Motion Faust lives in a world in which motion is the main force behind existence. During the Prologue in Heaven, three archangels give speeches in praise of the Creator, emphasizing how the world is in a constant state of movement. Raphael states that the movement of the Sun is a form of worship: "The sun proclaims its old devotion / [. .] / and still completes in thunderous motion / the circuits of its destined years" (246-248). For Gabriel, the rotation of the earth brings movement to all the elements upon its surface: "High cliffs stand deep in ocean weather, / wide foaming waves flood out and in, / and cliffs and seas rush on together / caught in the globe's unceasing spin" (251-258).
    [Show full text]