Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: A life With Islām.

Abstract

Goethe’s religiosity appears at the same time profoundly sincere yet
escaping confessional labels. It has been claimed that Goethe was Christian,
theist, mason, and even a pagan. Our work aims at studying Goethe’s
religiosity throughout his life, and in particular in his relationship with Islām.
Of all religions Goethe studied and interacted with, Islām is remarkably absent
from literary critic, yet he elaborated it throughout his life. We will propose
a periodisation which divides his relationship with Islām into four stages, in
which specific religious themes echo in his letters and works, most of which
have not been pointed out before, such as in the Faust. Finally, we will discuss
our findings in the context of religious studies scholarship, and approach the
issue of what can Goethe suggest for the meaning of a European Islām today.