ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the films of David Lynch, and focuses on the question: what do we mean when we define a film narrative as being ‘Lynchian’? Lynch's work is frequently described as blending surreal or sinister elements with mundane, everyday environments, and using imagery that evokes a dreamlike quality of mystery or menace. While Lynch's films arguably exist in their own standalone category, they also operate within a spectrum. Lynch is well-known for his reluctance, and at times refusal, to discuss and expand upon his own films. By analysing Lynch's body of work, one can identify key tropes and recurring narrative features that populate most of his films. Certain films deviate and diverge in unexpected ways, at times appearing to follow narrative conventions before suddenly switching to a dream-logic pattern in which our assumptions about characters and storyline are thrown into disarray.
