Theories of Carnival and Revolution

the carnivalesque and/as anticapitalist resistance

Mondays at 6pm to 8pm starting on Janary 17, 2005

Chris Smith c_smith@yorku.ca

This course starts with some writings about carnival by philosophers and literary critics. It applies these ideas to contemporary protests such as Reclaim the Streets.

Detailed Outline

In the modern world, the notion of 'carnival' exists both as a state sanctioned form of collective celebration, and as a mode of resistance and protest practiced by autonomous groups and organizations, often in direct and defiant opposition to the formal state apparatus. In the first instance, the carnival has historically functioned as a highly regulated, state-sanctioned outlet for the venting/release of naturally occurring (anarchic?) human energies, as evidenced in Toronto's Carribana, London's Notting Hill Carnival, Rio's Carnivale, etc.

In the second instance, the notions of 'carnival' and the 'carnivalesque' have recently been resurrected as an aesthetic form and mode of attack that have been consciously employed by the contemporary anti-capitalist and anti-globalization movements. Evidence of this can be seen in the WTO protests in Seattle, and the Summit of the Americas protest held in Quebec City, which was dubbed by organizers as the 'Carnival Against Capitalism'.

Through a close, critical examination of literature, literary theory, anthropology, and personal, experiential-based narratives, this course will seek to interrogate the (theoretical and everyday, historical and contemporary) interrelationships existing between carnival, the carnivalesque, festival, and spectacle.

While the first half of the course will be primarily devoted to a theoretical examination of the issues, the second half will directly draw upon the interests and experiences of the course participants themselves, with the hope of inspiring and/or generating individual projects and presentations. By exploring the notion of 'carnival' in all of its various different historical forms and manifestations, the core course group will ideally work towards determining the potential relevance and applicability of the abovementioned ideas in disrupting and defamiliarizing the dire state of everyday alienation that has come to pervade our current, immediate social surroundings.

tentative course outline

1. Carnival, Festival and Spectacle: introductions and definitions

2. Mikhail Bakhtin: Carnival, the Carnivalesque, and the Carnival Square

3. Henri Lefebvre: festival and everyday life

4. Bataille and Foucault: festival and/as transgression and the inversion of social hierarchy

5. Victor Turner: towards an anthropology of carnival and/as cultural performance

6. Case studies (1): examining the historical origins of the state-sanctioned carnival (Trinidad, Rio, London, Toronto)

7. Case studies (2): examining the contemporary resurgence of carnival as a form of anti-capitalist resistance ('Reclaim the Streets', 'Technival', 'Night of Dread')

8. Course Projects/Presentations (1)

9. Course Projects/Presentations (2)

10. Conclusion: the carnivalesque and/as anti-capitalist resistance

tentative reading list

Bakhtin, Mikhail. Problems of Dostoevsky's Poetics. Wayne C. Booth Ed. Trans. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press (Theory and History of Literature, Volume 8), 1984. [excerpts]

Bakhtin, Mikhail. Rabelais and his World. Helene Iswolsky Trans. Indianapolis: University of Indiana Press, 1984. [excerpts]

Bataille, Georges. "Sacrifice, the Festival and the Principles of the Sacred World". IN The Bataille Reader. Fred Botting and Scot Wilson Eds. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd., 1997 (210-220).

Bataille, Georges. "The Festival, or the Transgression of Prohibitions". The Accursed Share, Volume II: The History of Eroticism (Part Four: Transgression). Robert Hurley Trans. New York: Zone Books, 1994.

Callois, Roger. "Festival". The College of Sociology, 1937-1939. Denis Hollier Ed. Betsy Wing Trans. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press (Theory and History of Literature, Volume 41) 1988 (279-303).

Foucault, Michel. "Madness and Society". IN Essential Works of Foucault, Volume II: Aesthetics, Method and Epistemology. Paul Rabinow Ed. New York: The New Press, 1998.

Lefebvre, Henri. "Notes Written One Sunday in the French Countryside". Critique of Everyday Life, Volume I: Introduction. John Moore Trans. London: Verso, 1991 (201-227).

Turner, Victor. "Images and Reflections: Ritual, Drama, Carnival, Film and Spectacle in Cultural Performance". The Anthropology of Performance. New York: PAJ Publications, 1987 (21-33).