Pasolini, Fassbinder and Autobiography

This book chapter explores explores the significance and modalities of self-expression and -representation in Pasolini’s and Fassbinder’s films. Drawing on insights from autobiography scholarship, existing criticism on the two filmmakers, and their own proclamations, I argue that attention to Pasolini’s and Fassbinder’s distinctive autobiographical stances illuminates both the correspondences and divergences between the two authors’ works. Beginning with a brief survey of some pertinent issues arising within autobiography criticism, I probe the autobiographical dimensions of their films with regards to authorship, subjective renditions of literature and history, and the significance of the autobiographical mode for marginalised subjects.