Deadline extended to February 2nd.

This proposed panel for ASA 2025 seeks scholarly papers that explore David Lynch’s work through the lens of American Empire. In keeping with the conference theme (“Late-Stage American Empire”), this panel will explore Lynch’s work in political, historical, and geographic terms, building upon and departing from the psychological framework so frequently evoked in Lynch criticism and scholarship. What can be gained from investigating Lynch’s work as a reflection and interrogation of American empire? How might his depictions of the Harkonnens in Dune, for instance, represent the global avarice of post-war America? How does Lynch’s fascination with dormant or dying industrial and agricultural towns (Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, The Straight Story) inform a critical stance towards America’s economic hegemony? Can we read Lynch’s fascination with Hollywood and the film/television industry (Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, Inland Empire) in conversation with the imperial force of American popular culture?

Other possible topics include, but are not limited to: 

Lynch and the military-industrial complex; Lynch and policing

Lynch and whiteness

Lynchian sites of resistance; underworlds and counterworlds

Indigenous cultures in Lynch’s work

Global Lynch

Queer Lynch

Lynch and temporality or “lateness”

This panel seeks individual 15-20 minute papers. You may choose to investigate a single Lynch work or track a specific trope, theme, or question across multiple works. Please submit a title and brief proposal (100-200 words) to mark.bresnan@colostate.edu by the end of the day  on February 2 (Note: deadline extended from January 31). Accepted proposals will be notified immediately; if your proposal is accepted, you must submit a full abstract (500 words maximum) and bio (350 words maximum) by February 7. You must also be a member of the American Studies Association in order to appear on a session proposal. The 2025 American Studies Association Conference will take place November 20-22 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. More information can be found here: https://www.theasa.net/2025.