Published: 2021-07-31

Anthem for Nerds: Stranger Things, or the Pop Culture 1980s in a Nutshell

Dariusz Piechota
Dzieciństwo. Literatura i Kultura
Section: Varia
DOI https://doi.org/10.32798/dlk.712

Abstract

This article is devoted to the analysis of the TV series Stranger Things (2016– ) in the context of numerous allusions and references to literary, film, and musical works from the 1980s. The author of the paper shows that the Duffer brothers’ series is part of the retromania phenomenon present in contemporary popular culture. The nostalgic longing for adolescence and retro objects (such as walkmans, vinyls, cas­settes) results, among others, from the accelerated pace of changes taking place in today’s world. Old-time music and film media are currently experiencing a renais­sance, as we are looking for things that were permanent in the past. Stranger Things is almost like a guide to the 1980s, as the Duffer brothers are fascinated not only by the works of, inter alia, Stephen King, Steven Spielberg, and Wes Craven, but also by the then ways of spending free time with friends. The world in Stranger Things is also strange, bizarre, difficult to define, which may be one of the reasons why the story is so engaging.

Keywords:

adolescence, 1980s, Matt Duffer, nostalgia, retromania, Ross Duffer, young adult television series, Stephen King, Steven Spielberg, Stranger Things

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Piechota, D. (2021). Anthem for Nerds: Stranger Things, or the Pop Culture 1980s in a Nutshell. Dzieciństwo. Literatura I Kultura, 3(1), 170–187. https://doi.org/10.32798/dlk.712

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