Über Angst und Furcht in den Romanen von Friederike Gösweiner
On fear and anxiety in Friederike Gösweiner’s Novels

Summary/Abstract: Fear and anxiety are the main themes of two novels by Friederike Gösweiner: Trau- rige Freiheit (2016) and Regenbogenweiß (2022). Following Lars Koch's assertion that fear is simultaneously one of the primary emotions and a cultural phenomenon, the article discusses the characteristics of the fear scenarios presented. As a cultural product, fear determines hu- mans’ relationship with themselves and the world, delineating the boundaries of the unfamil- iar and the self and the defining relationships between economic determination and social interdependence. That is why the text analyses the symbolic relationship between the novels and the social context to reconstruct the root causes of fear/anxiety. Attention then focuses on the ways in which fear is represented, expressed, and experienced. Finally, the text briefly sketches the aesthetic and narrative characteristics of the novels.

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