'We're Still Standing': Bakhtin's Bildungsroman, Communal Growth, and Mookie's Transformative Evolution in Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Banco, Lindsey | |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Bartley, William | |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | White, Jerry | |
| dc.creator | Sestito, Matteo Alexander | |
| dc.creator.orcid | 0000-0002-8323-6726 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2022-02-04T18:44:04Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2022-02-04T18:44:04Z | |
| dc.date.created | 2022-06 | |
| dc.date.issued | 2022-02-04 | |
| dc.date.submitted | June 2022 | |
| dc.date.updated | 2022-02-04T18:44:05Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | This paper revisits Spike Lee’s 1989 film Do the Right Thing through the lens of the Bildungsroman as Bakhtin understands the genre. Using Bakhtin’s specific notion of the Bildungsroman as a genre involving both personal and social growth, this paper argues that the protagonist, Mookie, and the multiethnic community he resides in both undergo a transformation that aligns with Bakhtin’s conception of the genre. This transformation leads to a level of measured progress within the community as the community pushes back against the racial hierarchy and police brutality they face Though there is a measure o f progress, Lee resists the temptation to give the film a 'happy' ending. Instead, Lee merely hints towards the progress that minority groups within America demand. In so doing, Lee emphasizes the bit by bit nature of progress which starts within the individual and the community and grows outward. | |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10388/13809 | |
| dc.subject | Bildungsroman | |
| dc.subject | Literary studies | |
| dc.subject | Film studies | |
| dc.subject | Progress | |
| dc.subject | Race in America | |
| dc.subject | Police brutality | |
| dc.subject | Community | |
| dc.subject | Individual growth | |
| dc.title | 'We're Still Standing': Bakhtin's Bildungsroman, Communal Growth, and Mookie's Transformative Evolution in Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing | |
| dc.type | Thesis | |
| dc.type.material | text | |
| thesis.degree.department | English | |
| thesis.degree.discipline | English | |
| thesis.degree.grantor | University of Saskatchewan | |
| thesis.degree.level | Masters | |
| thesis.degree.name | Master of Arts (M.A.) |