Frankenstein rather than Faust? The decline of limit-surpassing forces

Giovanni Bottiroli’s article “Frankenstein Rather Than Faust?” aims to problematize and investigate further the challenge to the notion of “rigid identity”. In order to do so, Bottiroli dismantles a univocal understanding of “identity”, bringing to light the polisemy and porosity intrinsic to this term. The author discusses here different modes of identity, concentrating on two in particular: coincidence and non-coincidence with oneself. Taking this distinction as his point of departure, Bottiroli applies these interpretative frameworks to two of the most significant figures of Western imagination, Frankenstein and Faust.