Abstract
The lexeme Wechsel-Dauer (change-constancy) appears in “Anmutige Gegend” (A Pleasant Landscape) in Act I of Faust II, as part of Faust’s famous description of the rainbow before him. While the hyphenated term captures the essential temporal tension of the drama, reflecting the complexity of the Augenblick (moment), it also indexes the temporality of Metamorphose (metamorphosis) within Goethe’s scientific thought. The obvious overlap with the poem “Dauer im Wechsel” (1803; Constancy in Change), which is linked with early nineteenth-century psychology, points toward some of the term’s broader resonances. Beyond the natural scientific and psychological contexts, Wechsel-Dauer is connected to several interrelated aspects of cultural production, including publication practices, tradition, and late style. Furthermore, the hyphenated term, as distinguished from either Wechsel or Dauer alone, manifests the Goethean principles of Polarität (polarity) and Steigerung (intensification).
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