Faust-Literature and the Christian Demonology

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Europeans believe not only in God, but also in the Devil. These beliefs are not seen among the Japanese. The Devil and the Japanese demon are fairly different. In Japan, the spirits who are highly respected become gods, and those who are not respected become demons.In the European societies before the spread of Christianity, the old beliefs existed, which somewhat resemble the Japanese attitude to gods and demons. We can still see the rest of these old beliefs in "Perchtenlauf" in southern Germany, in which the "beautiful Perchta"and the "ugly Perchta"fight with each other.The Scholastic philosophies brought up the demonology. "The Tale of Theophilus", the forerunner of the Faust-legend, became popular in the European societies since the 12th century.The end of the popular play "Faust" in the 16th century and that of Goethe's "Faust" are quite different. The controversy between Luther and Erasmus lies in the background. The popular play is based on Lutheran doctrines ; Goethe on the humanist spirit of "free will.After Goethe, as the times are more confused, "Faust"-stories became more pessimistic. In the background of Grabbe's "Don Juan und Faust" is the Napoleonic War ; in that of Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita"is Stalinism.Japan is far from the tradition of demonology. Therefore, the Japanese "Faust"-stories have a special character. Yukio Mishima's "Kinjiki" ("The Forbidden Love") and Osamu Tezuka's "Neo-Faust" will be regarded as representative Japanese "Faust"-stories.