cris -- did you ever read Goethe's Italian Journey? He describes a real
carnival, the manic disruption of ordinary class hierarchies and social
mores etc., much as described by Bakhtin. It's a wonderful passage,
almonds flying everywhere, sexual havoc, and as its centrepiece the
horserace through the crowded streets. Interesting at that point to note
how the seating plan was figured out, for horserace spectators. Thing is,
even when clad in a converted dish with a penis for a nose, the price of
your dish will be more or less evident. To get a good seat was near
impossible for most citizens. Carnivals are once a year, mostly. After
which, back to the mop. I was at the annual carnival in Philadelphia a
few years ago. Troupes of Disney characters paraded through the deserted
city centre (everyone moved out to the suburbs) flanked on either side by
troupes of parading police officers. Two very different types of carne,
you might say, but trotting in time to each other anyhow.
reminds me of Bukharin's objections to anarchy as a form of
(non)government, from the Communist perspective; inevitably the failure to
pursue industrial advantage on a state-wide scale would lead to subjection
to military foreign interest.
A tendentious and yet-again-bleak rejoinder, I know. I like the carnival
theory, certainly I know less about it than you seem to, but just think
that the downside ought to be recollected.
Boo, k
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