Fear Eats the Soul: self-quarantining in an illiberal state

Fear Eats the Soul is one of the several remarkable films by Rainer Werner Fassbinder from 1974. The unlikely love story between a 60 year old German widow, who works as a cleaner, and Moroccan guest worker in his late 30s, shows how fear is manifested in words, in actions and also in the stomach ulcer of the guest worker. Fear is a governing force of all lives: fear saves us from drowning in a steep river and fear also prevents us telling an honest opinion about our colleague’s work. Fear, especially one type of it, the ‘existential fear’, has recently been used as an explanation for the resurgence of illiberalism and different forms of populism. One fears from impoverishment, job loss, premature death due to an infection in the underfinanced health care system, loneliness and the real list of subjects of fear can go on. But fear is a tricky emotion as Fassbinder knew it so well. It eats the soul as it becomes a part of the body, and not only drives one’s actions but also makes life lived with dignity impossible.

Type

Journal article

Date

2020

Identifiers

10.31273/fd.n5.2020.767

Collections

Gender Studies