Skarnawalizowany świat Tajemnicy lorda Singelworth
The Carnivalesque World of Tajemnica Lorda Singelworth

Summary/Abstract: The article is an attempt at reading Norwid’s Tajemnica lorda Singelworth(Lord Singelworth’s secret) in the light of Mikhail Bakhtin’s carnival theory.This novella exhibits three constitutive traits of the “seriousness-laughter”literature, which the carnivalesque literature stems from, as well as a numberof characteristics of Menippean satire considered by Bakhtin to be the mostrepresentative genre of this literary movement. In the article, the authordemonstrates that the novella also shows other features of Menippean satirepresented in Bakhtin’s theory. This is followed by an analysis of the jestercharacter, Tonin di Bona Grazia, who stands in opposition to the titularcharacter, and by a reflection on Venice – the carnival city – and the city’ssignificance to deciphering the meanings hidden in the novella. Theseanalyses support the hypothesis that Tajemnica lorda Singelworth exhibitscharacteristics traits of carnivalesque literature.

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