The Politics of Twin Peaks

Edited by Amanda DiPaolo and James Clark Gillies - Contributions by Shai Biderman; Amanda DiPaolo; Darci Doll; Martin Fradley; Ronen Gil; James Clark Gillies; Jamie Gillies; Ashlee Joyce; Benjamin Kruger-Robbins; Ido Lewit; Jean-Philippe Ranger; John A. Riley and Stacy Rusnak

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.

Lexington Books

Pages: 212 • Trim: 6¼ x 9

978-1-4985-7837-0 • Hardback • February 2019 • $105.00 • (£81.00)

978-1-4985-7839-4 • Paperback • March 2022 • $39.99 • (£30.00)

978-1-4985-7838-7 • eBook • February 2019 • $38.00 • (£30.00)

Series: Politics, Literature, & Film

Subjects: Political Science / History & Theory, Political Science / General, Performing Arts / Television / Genres / Drama

The Politics of Twin Peaks

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

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.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 212 • Trim: 6¼ x 9

978-1-4985-7837-0 • Hardback • February 2019 • $105.00 • (£81.00)

978-1-4985-7839-4 • Paperback • March 2022 • $39.99 • (£30.00)

978-1-4985-7838-7 • eBook • February 2019 • $38.00 • (£30.00)

Series: Politics, Literature, & Film

Subjects: Political Science / History & Theory, Political Science / General, Performing Arts / Television / Genres / Drama

Author

Amanda DiPaolo is associate professor of human rights at St. Thomas University.

Jamie Gillies is associate professor of communications and public policy at St. Thomas University.

Table of Contents

1.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

Reviews

The Politics of Twin Peaks, delves into the political aspects of Lynch’s work. Edited by Amanda DiPaolo and Jamie Gillies, the collection offers an interesting range of political subjects and theories in an attempt to reveal and understand the possibility of politics that are utilized by Lynch.

— VoegelinView

Aristotle 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