the carnivalesque

Peter Brueghel, The Fight Between Carnival and Lent, 1559

Readings  (35 pages)

1. Barbara Ehrenreich (2006). Ch. 1:  Introduction: Invitation to the Dance.  In Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy. Excerpts: pp 1-11, 16-20.

2. Barbara Ehrenreich (2006). Ch.4:  From the Churches to the Streets: The Creation of Carnival.  In Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy. Excerpts: pp. 77-80, 92-95.

3. Mikhail, Baktin (1994). Carnival Ambivalence, in P. Morris (ed.), The Bakhtin Reader: Selected Writings of Bakhtin, Medvedev and Voloshinov, pp.195-199.

4.Jock Young. (1997) The Subterranean World of Play, in K. Gelder & S. Thornton (eds.), The Subcultures Reader, pp. 71 -77.

Reading questions – written responses required 

  1. For the readings:
  • For each essay, what are some important take-aways?
  • What are some common themes that connect the essays?
  • Your thoughts and questions.
  1.  In-real-life and through the entertainment industries, what are examples of the carnivalesque today?  What are ways in which you may engage in elements of the contemporary carnivelsque and “subterrarean” play?

Post on your rolling Google doc;  include title assignment and date.

Mardis Gras Indians — from Tumblr at  http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/mardi%20gras%20indians?language=de_DE