The Politics of Twin Peaks

Amanda DiPaolo, Jamie Gillies

• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Year: 2019
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781978750777
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Television
• Index: Politics & International Relations

The 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 lines in the United States. In this edited collection, the politics inherent in Twin Peaks is approached from numerous points of view.

Table of contents

• Contents
• List of Photographs
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part I. INNOCENCE, NOSTALGIA, AND THE POLITICAL
• Chapter 1. The Nuclear Anxiety of win Peaks: The Return
• Chapter 2. Is It Future or Is It Past?: The Politics and Use of Nostalgia in Twin Peaks
• Part II. AMERICA AND THE POLITICAL
• Chapter 3. Rural and Suburban Lynch: Characterizations of Hard Times in Reagan’s and Trump’s America
• Chapter 4. “Dirty Bearded Men in a Room!”: Twin Peaks: The Return and the Politics of Lynchian Comedy
• Part III. IDENTITY, REPRESENTATION, AND THE POLITICAL
• Chapter 5. Violence, Representation, and Girl Power: Twin Peaks’ Female Characters and Third Wave Feminism
• Chapter 6. The Owls Are Not What They Seem: Retaking Queer Meaning in Twin Peaks
• Part IV. THE POLITICAL AS IT RELATES TO PHILOSOPHICAL, THEORETICAL, AND SPIRITUAL WAYS OF KNOWING
• Chapter 7. Zen, or the Art of Being Agent Cooper
• Chapter 8. The Transmigration of Cooper: Echoes of Plato’s Recollection in Twin Peaks
• Chapter 9. Life in the Black Lodge: The Twin Challenge of Watching Twin Peaks
• Index
• About the Contributors