Prof. Brook Henkel Publishes Article on Filmmaker Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Brook Henkel, Associate Professor of German Studies and Digital Media & Film, recently published new research on West German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder in the journal German Studies Review. His article, titled “Fassbinder’s Simulations: Fascist Futures, Retro Entertainment, and Remediation in Welt am Draht (1973),” closely rereads Fassbinder’s lone science fiction film World on a Wire alongside Jean Baudrillard’s early writings on simulation. One of the earliest cinematic depictions of virtual reality technology, Fassbinder’s film, the article argues, is also an incisive critique of retro culture and the attenuation of historical memory in the postwar media age.
Brook Henkel, “Fassbinder's Simulations: Fascist Futures, Retro Entertainment, and Remediation in Welt am Draht (1973)," German Studies Review 48.1 (2025): 111-130
