Access Type
Open Access Dissertation
Date of Award
January 2012
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Department
Communication
First Advisor
jackie Byars
Abstract
This project explores the trend of bodily and identity modification in the contemporary Hollywood musical and calls for a re-reading of the genre away from the standard classification, that of one strictly imbued with wistful nostalgia and heteronormativity. This work argues that several films have abrogated these traditional ideals to create a carnivalesque representation of the societal norms through a genre, and a production code that sought to preserve them. Using the work of Russian semiotician Mikhail Bakhtin, this project reveals that these films feature dark and satirical para-realities of murder, debauchery and cannibalism that act as a catharsis to their audiences' most salient fantasies and desires.
Recommended Citation
Gullen, Christopher Timothy, "Corporeal Modification In The Hollywood Musical: New Paradigms For Genre Analysis" (2012). Wayne State University Dissertations. 595.
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/595