Abstract
This is a reading of David Lynch’s "Mulholland Drive" through the psychoanalytic approach of Lacan from the perspective of formation of fantasy and shifting identities. Lynch constructs his films consciously choosing his themes from the sub(versive/conscious) side of human mind. "Mulholland Drive" has been analyzed several times from different approaches, ranging from gender (Love, 2004) to narratology (Lentzner, 2005; Mc-Gowan, 2004; Cook, 2011). This detailed textual analysis intends to rationalize Lynch’s narrative structure through Lacanian terms in reference to Žižekian terminology.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 58-76 |
| Journal | CINEJ Cinema Journal |
| Volume | 2 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Nov 2012 |
Bibliographical note
Reference text: Akser, M. (2011) Reinvigorating film studies: an immodest proposal. Cinej, 1:1, 1-3. doi: 10.5195/cinej.2011.26Akser, M. (2002). Review: slavoj zizek: the fright of real tears: krzysztof Kieslowski between theory and posttheory. Canadian Journal of Film Studies, 11:1, 108-111.
Allen, R. (1999). Psychoanalytic film theory. In R. Stam and T. Miller (Eds) A companion to film theory (pp. 123-145). Oxford: Blackwell.
Bergstrom, J. (1999). Endless night: cinema and psychoanalysis, parallel histories. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Cook, P. (2008). The cinema book 3rd ed. London: BFI.
Cook, R.F. (2011). Hollywood narrative and the play of fantasy: david lynch’s mulholland drive. Quarterly Review of Film and Video, 28:5, 369-381. doi:10.1080/10509200902820647
Hotz-Davies, I. and Kirchhofer, A. (Eds.) (2000). Psychoanalytic-ism: uses of psychoanalysis in novels, poems, plays and films. Trier: WVT.
Kaplan, E. A. (Ed.) (1990). Psychoanalysis & cinema, New York: Routledge.
Lacan, J. (1979). Four fundamental principles of psychoanalysis. New York: Norton.
Lacan, J. (2007). Ecrits: a selection. tr. Alan Sheridan, New York: W.W.Norton & Company.
Lebeau, V. (1995). Lost angels: psychoanalysis and cinema. London: Routledge.
Lentzner, J. R. and Ross, D. R. (2005). The dreams that blister sleep: latent content and cinematic form in mulholland drive. American Imago, 62:1, 101-123. doi:10.1353/aim.2005.0016
Love, H. (2004). Spectacular failure: the figure of the lesbian in mulholland drive. New Literary History, 35:1, 117-132. doi: 10.1353/nlh.2004.0021
McGowan, T. (2004). Lost on mulholland drive: Navigating david lynch's panegyric to hollywood. Cinema Journal, 43:2, 67-89. doi: 10.1353/cj.2004.0008
Rivkin, J. & Ryan, M. (Eds.). (1998). Literary theory: An anthology, Oxford: Blackwell.
Stam, R. (2000). Film theory: an introduction. Oxford: Blackwell.
Stam, R. and Miller, T. (Eds.). (2000). Film and theory: An anthology. Oxford: Blackwell.
Stam, R. and Miller, T. (Eds.). (1999). A companion to film theory. Oxford: Blackwell.
Stam, R., Burgoyne, R. & Flitterman-Lewis, S. (Eds.). (1992). New vocabularies in film semiotics: structuralism, post-structuralism and beyond. New York: Routledge.
Tubrett, D. (2001) ’So where are you?’ On memento, memory, and the sincerity of self-deception. Cineaction, 56, 2-10.
Tüzün, D. (2012). Abject’s “ideal” kin: the sublime. In G.B. Pierce (Ed.), The sublime today: contemporary readings in the aesthetic (pp. 119-142). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars.
Zizek, S. (2002). The fright of real tears: krzysztof kieslowski between theory and post-theory, London: BFI.
Zizek, S. (2001) Enjoy your symptom!: jacques lacan in hollywood and out 2nd ed. New York: Routledge.
Zizek, S. (2000). The art of the ridiculous sublime: on david lynch’s lost highway. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Zizek, S. (1992). Everything you always wanted to know about lacan...but were afraid to ask hitchcock, London: Verso.
Zizek, S. (1991). Looking awry: an introduction to jacques lacan through popular culture. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Keywords
- psychoanalysis
- David Lynch
- Lacan
- Zizek
- film studies