Irony in The Twilight Zone: How the Series Critiqued Postwar American Culture
- ISBN-10
- 1442260327
- ISBN-13
- 9781442260320
- Category
- Performing Arts
- Pages
- 254
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2015-12-14
- Publisher
- Rowman & Littlefield
- Author
- David Melbye
Description
Rod Serling’s pioneering series TheTwilight Zone (1959 to 1964) is remembered for its surprise twist endings and pervading sense of irony.While other American television series of the time also experimented with ironic surprises, none depended on these as much as Serling’s. However, irony was not used merely as a structural device—Serling and his writers used it as a provocative means by which to comment on the cultural landscape of the time. Irony in The Twilight Zone: How the Series Critiqued Postwar American Culture explores the multiple types of irony—such as technological, invasive, martial, sociopolitical, and domestic—that Serling, Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont, and other contributors employed in the show. David Melbye explains how each kind of irony critiqued of a specific aspect of American culture and how all of them informed one another, creating a larger social commentary. This book also places the show’s use of irony in historical and philosophical contexts, connecting it to a rich cultural tradition reaching back to ancient Greece. The Twilight Zone endures because it uses irony to negotiate its definitively modernist moment of “high” social consciousness and “low” cultural escapism. With its richly detailed, frequently unexpected readings of episodes, Irony in The Twilight Zone offers scholars and fans a fresh and unique lens through which to view the classic series.
Get the book
Similar books
-
The Business of American Theatre
By William GrangeScheurer, Timothy E. The Nineteenth Century and Tin Pan Alley. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green ... Timberlake, Craig. The Bishop of Broadway: The Life ...
-
Shooting Action Sports: The Ultimate Guide to Extreme Filmmaking
By Todd GrossmanDeal. with. Them. There«s one constant in the world of action sports, and that«sthe recurring issue with authority figures. The concernis justifiable when ...
-
Mycommunicationkit Student Access Code Card
By Bryan A Pearson, Pearson Education, Inc., Prentice Hall PearsonMycommunicationkit Student Access Code Card
-
Reframing Culture: The Case of the Vitagraph Quality Films
By William Uricchio, Roberta E. Pearson... Rare Books Room, and Ruth Senior and the staff, interlibrary loan, Pattee Library, Penn State; Elaine Burrows, Jackie Morris, Roger Holman, Markku Salmi ...
-
Star Trek and American Television
By Roberta Pearson, Máire Messenger DaviesWith the exception of the actors, the majority of the Star Trek production staff were male, except for the wardrobe staff whom we've mentioned.
-
Leadership in the Performing Arts
By Tobie S. SteinTodd of course has been leading the Roundabout since 1983 and, after many years at the helm, ... Notes 1 Terrence E. Deal and Allan A. Kennedy, Corporate.
-
The Complete Films of Alfred Hitchcock
By Robert A. Harris, Michael S. Lasky... and it took eight years to complete his four - picture deal . ... Money was no object Valli , Ann Todd , and Hitchcock during filming of The Paradine ...
-
Broadway Plays and Musicals: Descriptions and Essential Facts of More Than 14,000 Shows through 2007
By Thomas S. HischakMichael Todd's Peep Show [28 June 1950] musical revue by Bobby Clark, ... an emergency and the crew has to deal with the two women on board for some time, ...
-
Timberlake Wertenbaker Plays 1: New Anatomies; Grace of Mary Traverse; Our Country's Good; Love of a Nightingale; Three Birds Alighting...
By Timberlake WertenbakerNew Anatomies, Grace of Mary Traverse, Our Country's Good, Love of a Nightingale & Three Birds Alighting on a Field
-
The Ash Girl
By Timberlake WertenbakerIn this wondrous drama Timberlake Wertenbaker explores the beauty and terror inherent in growing up. The Ash Girl premiered at Birmingham Rep in 2001.