“You Deserve This.”

Economic Perspectives on (Self-Designed) Death in Daniel Wisser’s Novel Königin der Berge (2018) and the TV-Series Upload (since 2020)

Abstract

At first, economic and death seem to be an unusual, incompatible, or even unthinkable pair. However, on closer inspection, economic approaches to what is probably the greatest enigma – death – also offer creative potential, because it creates distance and this distance opens up a space for viewing the complex motif of death. Daniel Wisser’s novel Königin der Berge (2018; “Queen of the Mountains”) focuses on a patient suffering from multiple sclerosis who wishes to end his life. Economic aspects of dying, even down to the specifics of payment, line the polyphonic text that understands life as an absurdity and highlights death as the only option. To achieve this, the author resorts to acts of censorship, visible deletions, and fictional elements and creates a multi-perspective view of a society where desired death is still taboo. The TV-series Upload (2020), currently consisting of two seasons, goes one step further and creates a dystopian look (of the 2030s) at the technical possibilities of shaping life after death. The series also examines the extent to which economic backgrounds determine death. Both portrayals of contemporary dying rely on comical, almost darkly humorous, absurd representations that involve the recipient no less in their intensity.