Faust, Icon of Modern Culture

This is the first comprehensive analysis of the instrumentalisation of the Faust myth from earliest times to the present. In a series of interconnected chapters, Durrani examines the function of the myth in the present with a view to assessing changing perceptions of the topos of wayward genius. In doing so, he moves away from the familiar ground covered by previous scholars into unexplored areas which include contemporary painting and sculpture, rock music, children’s and adult comics, poster design, nuclear science, advertising, tourism and politics. Reviewed by Professor Theodore Ziolkowski (Princeton): ‘The few comparable works […] lack the coherence of Durrani’s sustained and lively view.’