*CFP* CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS, DAVID LYNCH'S FILMS SPECIAL ISSUE, WIDERSCREEN JOURNAL

WiderScreen is seeking contributions for its Fall/Winter issue dedicated to David Lynch’s contributions to both art and media cultures. David Lynch has said about his films: “All my movies are about strange worlds that you can’t go into unless you film them. That’s what’s so important about film to me. I just like going into strange worlds” (Lynch in Wolf, 2012: 1).

Lynch’s work is often recognized by its non-linear storytelling and narrative ambiguity. The reception of the strange worlds envisioned and created by Lynch has resulted in fan appraisal as well as critical success. Yet, the visionary experimental modes, provocative approaches and peculiar aesthetics represented in the art and authorship of Lynch have prompted mixed reactions from its various audiences—media, TV and film industries.

One of Lynch’s key works is the seminal television show, Twin Peaks, created and developed together with Mark Frost. This year marks the 30th Anniversary of the first season of Twin Peaks that premiered on April 8, 1990.

The original Twin Peaks (1990­­–1991) is often considered the first cult television show, including facets of genre television, especially detective fiction, soap operas, horror and science fiction. Season 3 of Twin Peaks (Twin Peaks: The Return) premiered in May 2017 and received critical acclaim.

A significant body of popular and scholarly research explores Lynch’s work through multimodal accounts. The upcoming special issue challenges researchers interested in the art and storytelling of Lynch to approach these ‘strange worlds’ in creative, even subversive ways. This special issue will explore the (strange) nature, narrative complexity, cultism, reception and consumption of David Lynch’s work and worlds—drawings, paintings, writings, short films, television series and cinematic films.

The themes of interest to the special issue are (but are not limited to):

      • reception; audience, media, TV and film

      • culture, cultism and consumption

      • play, playfulness and humor

      • parodies, pastiches, and other forms of participatory engagement with Lynch’s worlds

      • dreams, illusions, imagination and fantasy

      • aesthetics and ambiance

      • artistic productions as tributes to the work of David Lynch, material, digital and beyond

      • fandom and fabrication in all of its forms

      • physicality, digitality and multisensoriality

      • language, symbolism and mythology

      • terrain, locations and geography

      • gastronomy, hospitality

      • violence, horror and terror

      • subconsciousness, surrealism, and the supernatural

      • intertextuality, paratextuality and transmediality

      • theme songs, music and soundscapes

      • Legacy of the Log: Twin Peaks seasons 1-3

      • It is happening again: mimesis, repetition, re-appropriation and replaying

      • spatial and temporal dimensions

      • narrative complexity

The special issue is bilingual (English / Finnish). In addition to peer reviewed article manuscripts (4000-7000 words), this issue welcomes articles, review articles, book reviews, as well as experimental media approaches, such as multimedia works that investigate David Lynch’s multidimensional art.

Please send your abstract (300-500 words) by 31.8.2020 to Editor-in-Chief, Petri Saarikoski, University of Turku (petsaari@utu.fi) and editors Katriina Heljakka, (katriina.heljakka@utu.fi) and Pauliina Tuomi, University of Tampere (pauliina.tuomi@tuni.fi). Notification of acceptance by 9.9.2020. The deadline for the full manuscripts is 9.11.2020. Submission deadline:15.2.2021.

Publication: winter 2021