Burning effigies with Bakhtinian laughter
Burning effigies with Bakhtinian laughter
Author(s): Florian GöttkeSubject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Social Sciences, Theatre, Dance, Performing Arts, Fine Arts / Performing Arts, Political Theory, Communication studies, Politics and society
Published by: Krakowskie Towarzystwo Popularyzowania Wiedzy o Komunikacji Językowej Tertium
Keywords: effigy performance; political protest; Bakhtin; carnival laughter; violence;
Summary/Abstract: The hanging or burning of effigies as an expression of dissent is a well-established genre of playful political protest. It is enacted in a variety of ways, accessing the conventions of various traditional rituals and social practices, and can function either as a progressive force demanding change, or repressively in seeking to enforce the existing order. Building on a close reading of media images of effigy protests from over the world, I relate the employed strategies of reversal and debasement and the grotesque aesthetics of these dummies to Bakhtin’s concept of the carnivalesque. I trace the different kinds of laughter that emerge during the effigy protests and explore the complicated relationship between laughter and violence inherent in these performed images of violent death.
Journal: The European Journal of Humour Research
- Issue Year: 3/2015
- Issue No: 2/3
- Page Range: 129-144
- Page Count: 16
- Language: English