Description
Book SynopsisThe strange and wonderful place of Twin Peaks captivated audiences for more than two decades before its long-awaited return to television in 2017. David Lynch and Mark Frost created a land that embodies the politics of American culture. With its focus on small-town America and life outside urban centers, rural and suburban values play a big part in the overall Twin Peaks narrative. More than just a soapy murder investigation or a mysterious puzzle to be solved, Twin Peaks and Twin Peaks: The Return are metaphors for the political years in which they are set. The Politics of Twin Peaks investigates the show's engagement with American politics and identity. With a close relationship between the two, Twin Peaks is the rare cultural landmark in both film and television whose timelessness is defined by the fact that it can constantly be reinterpreted. Within that sometimes dreamlike Lynchian narrative, Twin Peaks hints at, sometimes explicitly and sometimes subtly, the political fault line
Trade ReviewAristotle argued that man is a political animal, but political readings of Twin Peaks have been slow to surface until now.Twin Peaks is a series about a community and the societal questions that community confronts, warranting further investigation from a political-philosophical approach. This is what The Politics of Twin Peaks does using an array of useful theories and approaches. -- Franck Boulègue, author of Twin Peaks: Unwrapping the Plastic
This book offers a much-needed political perspective on Twin Peaks and skillfully weaves together the meanings of both the original and return series. -- Angela Hague, Middle Tennessee State University
Table of Contents1.The Nuclear Anxiety of Twin Peaks: The Return Ashlee Joyce 2 Is it Future or is it Past?: The Politics and use of Nostalgia in Twin Peaks Amanda DiPaolo 3. Rural and Suburban Lynch: Characterizations of Hard Times in Reagan’s andTrump’s America Jamie Gillies 4. Dirty Bearded Men in a Room!: Twin Peaks: The Return and the Politics of Lynchian Comedy Martin Fradley and John A. Riley 5. Violence, Representation, and Girl Power: Twin Peaks’ Female Characters and Third Wave Feminism Stacy Rusnak 6. The Owls are Not What They Seem: Retaking Queer Meaning in Twin Peaks Benjamin Kruger-Robbins 7. Zen, or the Art of Being Agent Cooper Darci Doll 8. The Transmigration of Cooper: Echoes of Plato’s Recollection in Twin Peaks Jean-Philippe Ranger 9. Life in the Black Lodge: The Twin Challenge of Watching Twin Peaks Shai Biderman, Ronen Gil, and Ido Lewit
