A fatal German marriage: the national subtext of Fassbinder's Die Ehe der Maria Braun

Uecker, Matthias

Abstract

The article explores the connections between the development of Maria Braun's marriage and the political and economic conditions which made the economic miracle of the nineteen-fifties possible. Whereas Fassbinder scholarship has tended to seek parallels only between the character of Maria Braun and general developments in German society, it is argued here that both her marriage and her love affairs need to be included in such an interpretation. The analysis of non-realistic, theatrical or non-diegetic elements in the film's style discovers a subtext which revolves around symbols of national identity and sovereignty and which is directly linked to the development of Maria Braun's marriage. Within this framework, the symbolic function of Maria Braun's lovers and of her husband are re-examined.

Citation

Uecker, M. (2001). A fatal German marriage: the national subtext of Fassbinder's Die Ehe der Maria Braun. German Life and Letters, 54(1), https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0483.00188

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2001
• Deposit Date: Oct 28, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 28, 2015
• Journal: German Life and Letters
• Print ISSN: 0016-8777
• Electronic ISSN: 0016-8777
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 54
• Issue: 1
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0483.00188
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/702907
• Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-0483.00188/abstract
• Additional Information: This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Uecker, M. (2001), A Fatal German Marriage: The National Subtext of Fassbinder’s Die Ehe Der Maria Braun. German Life and Letters, 54: 45–59. doi: 10.1111/1468-0483.00188, which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-0483.00188/abstract. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.