Inferno constitutes a turning point in Strindberg's literary production in that scriptural quotations appear more frequently and a new style emerges. This thesis presents the characteristics of the scriptural quotations appearing in Inferno (1897) and Jacob Wrestles (a fragment following Légendes, written in French and in Swedish in 1898). Comparative, discourse, textual and intertextual approaches are used to define the place and role of scriptural quotations in this literary corpus. From a historical point of view, both novels are part of the religious history of late 19th century France, where religion played a more important role than during the scientific, rationalist era characterizing the preceding decades. Strindberg adopts a new style corresponding to the spirit of his time. The art of "quoting the Bible at random" is a rhapsodic style, which appears mainly in Strindberg’s correspondence, in his Occult Diary (writings contemporary with Inferno) and in the work of some French 19th century writers. This style originates, above all, in the occult tradition, but it is also a means of imitating the Bible and identifying with a prophetic figure. The research discussed in this dissertation has made it possible to determine, for the first time, what Bible translations are used in the two novels by Strindberg (translations by Ostervald and Martin / Roques). Five different types of rewritings of quotations were found: omissions, cutting of verses, substitutions, typographical changes and inversions. These variations were aimed at harmonising the Biblical text and the Strindbergian text, while removing contextual and theological elements that bothered the writer. The discourse analysis has concentrated on the quotations viewed as reported speech, distinguishing different ways of introducing Biblical verses in the novel. It was found that the narrator's subjectivity is present in the comments leading up to the quotations. The polyphonic character of some quotations has stressed the importance of identification play between the narrator and certain quotations characters such as Christ, Job and the psalmist. The intertextual analysis has revealed a large number of similarities in the scriptural quotations in the literary production of Strindberg, Swedenborg and French 19th century literature. It is shown that Inferno contains various quotations that appear in Occult Diary and in other writers’ works, such as those of Swedenborg, Péladan, Zola, Huysmans and Chateaubriand. Jacob Wrestles, on the other hand, does not include as many intertextual elements but instead reassembles many scriptural quotations that were underlined in the Bible translation used for this novel: La Sainte Bible, Ostervald's translation from 1890, which can be found in Blå Tornet (The Strindberg Museum in Stockholm). Strindberg is consequently recycling Biblical material when he writes Inferno, while resorting to the French Bible of Ostervald from 1890 to write Jacob Wrestles. The quotations strewn in Inferno constitute a crescendo and reveal the narrator’s unsuccessful attempt at conversion, at the same time forming the structure of a complaint psalm in which the narrator cries out his suffering and awaits liberation. In the French text of Jacob Wrestles, the writer offers a package of scriptural quotations in order to identify the narrator as "a religious man", imploring God's mercy like Moses and Job. In the Swedish text of Jacob Wrestles, a new perspective is introduced as a result of the change in language, the change from Old to New Testament, the new spiritual disposition of the narrator and the sudden intrusion of the writer in the narrator’s space. The role of scriptural quotations in the entire fragment of Jacob Wrestles is a true linguistic, thematic and theological revolution, which accounts for the narrator's extraordinary religious evolution. The misery of the narrator in Inferno allows a ray of Christian hope, which will persist in Strindbergs’s literary production post-Inferno.

The decades before the Scottish Reformation Parliament of 1560 witnessed the unprecedented use of a range of different media to disseminate the Protestant message and to shape beliefs and attitudes. By placing these works within their historical context, this thesis explores the ways in which various media – academic discourse, courtly entertainments, printed poetry, public performances, preaching and pedagogical tools – were employed by evangelical and Protestant reformers to persuade and/or educate different audiences within sixteenth-century Scottish society. The thematic approach examines not only how the reformist message was packaged, but how the movement itself and its persuasive agenda developed, revealing the ways in which it appealed to ever broader circles of Scottish society. In their efforts to bring about religious change, the reformers capitalised on a number of traditional media, while using different media to address different audiences. Hoping to initiate reform from within Church institutions, the reformers first addressed their appeals to the kingdom's educated elite. When their attempts at reasoned academic discourse met with resistance, they turned their attention to the monarch, James V, and the royal court. Reformers within the court utilised courtly entertainments intended to amuse the royal circle and to influence the young king to oversee the reformation of religion within his realm. When, following James's untimely death in 1542, the throne passed to his infant daughter, the reformers took advantage of the period of uncertainty that accompanied the minority. Through the relatively new technology of print, David Lindsay's poetry and English propaganda presented the reformist message to audiences beyond the kingdom's elite. Lindsay and other reformers also exploited the oral media of religious theatre in public spaces, while preaching was one of the most theologically significant, though under-researched, means of disseminating the reformist message. In addition to works intended to convert, the reformers also recognised the need for literature to edify the already converted. To this end, they produced pedagogical tools for use in individual and group devotions. Through the examination of these various media of persuasion, this study contributes to our understanding of the means by which reformed ideas were disseminated in Scotland, as well as the development of the reformist movement before 1560.

When Martin Luther supposedly nailed his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, the small town had only a single printing press. By the end of the century, Wittenberg had published more books than any other city in the Holy Roman Empire. Of the leading print centres in early modern Europe, Wittenberg was the only one that was not a major centre of trade, politics, or culture. This thesis examines the rise of the Wittenberg printing industry and analyses how it overtook the Empire's leading print centres. Luther's controversy—and the publications it produced—attracted printers to Wittenberg who would publish tract after tract. In only a few years, Luther became the most published author since the invention of the printing press. This thesis investigates the workshops of the four leading printers in Wittenberg during Luther's lifetime: Nickel Schirlentz, Josef Klug, Hans Lufft, and Georg Rhau. Together, these printers conquered the German print world. They were helped with the assistance of the famous Renaissance artist, Lucas Cranach the Elder, who lived in Wittenberg as court painter to the Elector of Saxony. His woodcut title page borders decorated the covers of Luther's books and were copied throughout the Empire. Capitalising off the demand for Wittenberg books, many printers falsely printed that their books were from Wittenberg. Such fraud played a major role in the Reformation book trade, as printers in every major print centre made counterfeits of Wittenberg books. However, Reformation pamphlets were not the sole reason for Wittenberg's success. Such items played only a marginal role in the local industry. It was the great Luther Bibles, spurred by Luther's emphasis on Bible reading, that allowed Wittenberg's printers to overcome the odds and become the largest print centre in early modern Germany.