That which refuses to stay buried: Twin Peaks and the spectral Native of American discourse
Graduation Date
2015
Document Type
Project
Program
Other
Program
Project (M.A.)--Humboldt State University, English: Literature, 2015
Committee Chair Name
Michael Eldridge
Committee Chair Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Keywords
David, Twin Peaks, Native Americans in literature, Renee, Bergland, Lynch, Supernatural in literature, Humboldt State University -- Projects -- English
Abstract
In this project I analyze David Lynch and Mark Frost's television series Twin Peaks, with special focus on the presence of a "spectral" Native American antagonist in the mythology of the series. I briefly trace the image of the spectral Native American in the history of American arts and letters—a history that conveys the preoccupations and anxieties of a young nation—and I explore how the presence of a contemporary spectral Native American in Twin Peaks both complicates our understanding of the social politics embedded in Lynch's body of work, and indicates a collective American psyche still struggling to come to terms with the origins of its stolen land. I argue that Twin Peaks is a televisual update of what Renee Bergland names American literature's discursive strategy of "ghosting" Native Americans, and I explore how depictions of ghosting in the medium of television elucidate the modern-day dynamics of a centuries-old feature of American letters. ii
Recommended Citation
Gunderson, Daniel, "That which refuses to stay buried: Twin Peaks and the spectral Native of American discourse" (2015). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 1231.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/1231
https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/concern/theses/5x21th823