David Lynch's American Dreamscape

How are David Lynchâs films as much in dialogue with literary and musical traditions as they are cinematic ones?

By interrogating this question, David Lynchâs American Dreamscape broadens the interpretive horizons of Lynchâs filmography, calling for a new approach to Lynchâs films that goes beyond cinema and visual art to explore how Lynchâs work engages with literary and musical works that have shaped the American imagination. As much as Lynch stands as a singular artistic voice, his work arises from and taps into the cultural zeitgeist in a way that illuminates not only his approach to creativity but also the way works interact with each other in an age of mass media. From childrenâs literature to teen tragedy ballads, Nathanael West and Cormac McCarthy to folk music and mixtapes, David Lynchâs American Dreamscape investigates the cultural frequencies Lynchâs films tune into and positions Lynchâs work as a conduit for American popular culture, a medium or channel through which the subconscious of American life finds its way into full view.
The book expands upon this approach by discussing how artists such as David Foster Wallace and Lana Del Rey graft Lynchâs affiliative, cinematic sensibility onto their own projects. Reading their work as intertextual engagements with Lynchâs films further illustrates the versatile interactions among creators and audiences to generate more works, readers, and readings.