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Article
Money, Violence, and the Financialized Self in Michael Haneke's Glaciation Trilogy
The German Quarterly
  • William H. Carter, Iowa State University
Document Type
Article
Publication Version
Published Version
Publication Date
2-10-2021
DOI
10.1111/gequ.12159
Abstract

This essay argues that Haneke's Glaciation Trilogy actively engages the mounting financialization of self during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Against the backdrop of Robert Bresson's 1983 film L'argent, which features the relatively new automated teller machine (ATM), the study analyzes the provocative destruction of money scene in Der siebente Kontinent (1989), the pyramid scheme and financial strategy of hedging against risk in Benny's Video (1992), and the violent denouement in a Viennese bank that concludes 71 Fragmente einer Chronologie des Zufalls (1994). While both Bresson and Haneke focus on money, the latter accentuates the increasing financialization of daily life. Drawing on the work of critical finance theorists, this study demonstrates how Haneke explores the ascent of the risk‐managing, financialized self as part of his trenchant critique of violence in the era of financial capitalism.

Comments

This is an article published as Carter, William H. "Money, Violence, and the Financialized Self in Michael Haneke's Glaciation Trilogy," 94.1 (2021). Posted with permission

Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International
Copyright Owner
The Author
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Citation Information
William H. Carter. "Money, Violence, and the Financialized Self in Michael Haneke's Glaciation Trilogy" The German Quarterly Vol. 94 Iss. 1 (2021) p. 116 - 130
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/william_carter/15/