Constructing Freedom: An Ideological and Bakhtinian Critique of Frank Ocean’s Endless
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Shana Bridges
Location
Russell Union Ballroom
Type of Research
Completed
Session Format
Paper Presentation
College
College of Arts & Humanities
Department
Communications Arts
Abstract
Endless by Frank Ocean, released August 19, 2016, is a contemporary work that was far more than a traditional album release. This essay, through the application of ideological and Bakhtinian criticism, argues that the project constitutes a counter-hegemonic performance that both exposes and resists the dominant industry dynamics governing artistic ownership. Ideological criticism reveals Ocean’s manipulation of time, aesthetic properties, and refusal of typical release strategies to criticize the industry that drove him to seek artistic freedom. Bakhtinian criticism furthers this examination by demonstrating how the artistic elements enact resistance through the concepts of heteroglossia, polyphony, dialogism, chronotope, and the carnivalesque. The film’s soundscape, structure, and refusal of narrative closure create a text that disrupts singular meaning, inverts industry hierarchy, and reimagines time-space elements within music production. This analysis proposes that Ocean’s project redefines artistic autonomy by transforming a contractual obligation into an act of ideological critique and aesthetic defiance.
Program Description
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Start Date
4-23-2026 2:00 PM
End Date
4-23-2026 4:00 PM
Recommended Citation
Cook, Cooper, "Constructing Freedom: An Ideological and Bakhtinian Critique of Frank Ocean’s Endless" (2026). GS4 Student Scholars Symposium. 230.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/research_symposium/2026/2026/230
Constructing Freedom: An Ideological and Bakhtinian Critique of Frank Ocean’s Endless
Russell Union Ballroom
Endless by Frank Ocean, released August 19, 2016, is a contemporary work that was far more than a traditional album release. This essay, through the application of ideological and Bakhtinian criticism, argues that the project constitutes a counter-hegemonic performance that both exposes and resists the dominant industry dynamics governing artistic ownership. Ideological criticism reveals Ocean’s manipulation of time, aesthetic properties, and refusal of typical release strategies to criticize the industry that drove him to seek artistic freedom. Bakhtinian criticism furthers this examination by demonstrating how the artistic elements enact resistance through the concepts of heteroglossia, polyphony, dialogism, chronotope, and the carnivalesque. The film’s soundscape, structure, and refusal of narrative closure create a text that disrupts singular meaning, inverts industry hierarchy, and reimagines time-space elements within music production. This analysis proposes that Ocean’s project redefines artistic autonomy by transforming a contractual obligation into an act of ideological critique and aesthetic defiance.
