This novel describes the uncompromising struggles of two very different characters against the crippling influences of conventional morality. The autobiography of the late medieval Johannes Faustus is interwoven with the third-person story of the twentieth-century figure Sybil Wagner. In their different historical contexts they fight against abuse, violence and depression in order to gain the ultimate objectives of sexual fulfilment, professional success, and a harmonious relationship with self and others. Part I describes the two characters' first encounters with love and death. It shows how their indomitable spirits cope with the hypocrisy of the adult world, with the confusing experience of their adolescent bodies, and the puzzling moment of losing their virginity. Part II describes their respective attempts to find out who they are and what they want. The structural parallelism between a male and a female Faustus from different social and historical backgrounds invites the reader to think about the barriers of historical and gender difference. Both narrative strands engage in a sophisticated play with the ambiguities of the archetypal story of transgression and allow for a number of different interpretations of, for instance, the nature and role of immaterial forces such as the devil. Both narrative strands portray a credible or 'realistic' framework for the uncanny elements of the Faustus narrative and thereby explore the borderlines between conventional and subjective reality.

Development issues are often described as important but dull, and ongoing stereotypical representations of a ‘distant other’ perpetuated by NGO’s and mainstream media create an increasingly disengaged public. In response to this, more creative means of communication are needed to increase engagement and counter dominant stereotypical narratives within the development sector. Humour is rarely considered as a communication strategy for development, but it has the potential to be an influential tool to lower societal barriers and challenge existing power relations. This explorative research aims to examine how humour could be potentially used to disrupt stereotypical narratives and form a site of resistance against concepts such as the White Saviour Complex. It aims to explore the ways humour can engage a broader audience and challenge stereotypical representations of aid, especially within the western media. Considering two primary case studies; online campaign RadiAid and tv mockumentary series the Samaritans, it will explore the ways humour can be used to persuade, raise awareness and increase likability, while also being used as a form of critique. Through the lens of social semiotics, it considers commonalities in how humour can be utilised and how audiences react to it. This research also aims to find the advantages and limitations of using humorous techniques in such contexts.