BAE 2013-2014
The Paths of Faust: A Pact with the Devil in Literature and Art
Instructor
Irina Kuznetsova ()
Course description
The legendary Faust, a man who sells his soul to the devil to achieve his personal aspirations, has appeared repeatedly in masterpieces of world literature, art, and music since the 16th century. What facets of the Faust motif have ensured its lasting relevance through 400 years of historical and social transformation? In this course we will examine the development of the Faust motif through time. We’ll start with the legend’s origins in the Renaissance-Reformation period and its first literary adaptation by the British dramatist Christopher Marlowe, pass through Enlightenment and modernity, and finish with the most recent interpretation of the legend by the Russian filmmaker Alexander Sokurov. While exploring the roots of the motif’s persistence through time, we will address the following questions:
What is the Faustian nature? How does each age adapt the motif to its own concerns?Where do the elements of continuity and change lie? What distinctive characteristics does each culture (British, American, German, and Russian) reveal through particular ways it adapts the legend? How do these Faustian works of art respond and contribute to the social, political, and historical contexts in which they are produced?
During the course students will read, among others, the following famous Faustian works: Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, Byron's Manfred, excerptsfromGoethe’s Faust, Turgenev’s short story Faust, Oscar Wilde’s The Portrait of Dorian Gray. They will also listen to the musical pieces ofMahler, Gounod, andBerlioz; watch Murnau’s and Sokurov’s adaptations of the legend;and read some excerpts from theoretical texts on the topic.
The course will consist of 32 seminars that will take place twice a week.
Preparation for classes and active participation in class discussions is crucial to doing well in this course. Once a week students should post contributions to the online discussion group (ca. 1 paragraph) based on the reading for the week.
The grading breakdown
A student's grade in this course will be determined on the basis of:
Class discussion and participation 20%
Online discussions 10%
Oral presentation 10%
Midterm Paper20%
Final Essay 40%
Make-up policy
If you are failing the course you are allowed to rewrite either a midterm paper or a final paper.