The Cryptogeography of Goethe’s Faust II

The Cryptogeography of Goethe’s Faust II examines the neglected geographical dimensions of the second part of Goethe's Faust, composed between 1825 and 1832. It challenges conventional readings by presenting Faust II not as a simple continuation of the Eurocentric, Renaissance-focused first part, but as a distinct creative phase produced after Goethe's return from a long engagement with autobiography and scientific study. Shifting critical attention from historical to spatial analysis, the study reveals how Goethe's fascination with the New World—particularly Brazil and Panama—fundamentally shapes the drama, with Faust and Mephistopheles functioning as unbound, transatlantic agents moving through a cryptically rendered New World environment. This geographical reorientation is traced through Goethe's engagement with contemporary exploration literature and his personal interactions with German explorers returning from the Americas, including geologist Wilhelm Ludwig von Eschwege, botanist Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, and, most significantly, the polymath Alexander von Humboldt. The volume argues that these contacts introduced the controversial themes of the slave trade and slavery into Faust II's framework, shaping Goethe's characteristically indirect and cryptic style. By foregrounding spatiality over historicity as the drama's driving force, the study uncovers a non-Eurocentric dimension of Faust II largely overlooked in traditional scholarship, offering fresh insights for scholars and students of German Studies, Comparative Literature, and the wider humanities alike.