Irony in The Twilight Zone (eBook)

How the Series Critiqued Postwar American Culture

David Melbye (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2015
254 Seiten
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (Verlag)
978-1-4422-6032-0 (ISBN)

Infos

This book explores the multiple types of irony—technological, invasive, martial, sociopolitical, and domestic—that were employed by the classic television show The Twilight Zone. Each of these uses of irony acts as a critique of a specific aspect of American culture, but all inform each other, creating a larger sense of social critique.

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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 deviceSerling 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 ironysuch as technological, invasive, martial, sociopolitical, and domesticthat 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.

Autor

David Melbye has taught a broad range of media studies courses at a variety of universities and academies in Southern California and abroad. He has also worked in the Hollywood television industry, contributing as a music producer for popular shows including Friday Night Lights, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and One Life to Live. Melbye is the author of Landscape Allegory in Cinema (2010).

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 14.12.2015
• Reihe/Serie: Science Fiction Television
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Kunst / Musik / Theater ► Film / TV
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Kommunikation / Medien ► Medienwissenschaft
• Schlagworte: American Culture • Charles Beaumont • Ironic Ending • Irony • Postwar America • Richard Matheson • Rod Serling • Science Fiction • Sci Fi TV • Social commentary • Television • Twilight Zone
• ISBN-10: 1-4422-6032-7 / 1442260327
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4422-6032-0 / 9781442260320