Carnivalesque Language as Countercultural Discourse: Considerations on the Work of Mikhail Bakhtin

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2236-4242.v38i1p161-181

Keywords:

Carnivalization, Grotesque Realism, Counterculture, Cultural Industry, Mass Culture

Abstract

The aim of this article is to reexamine the work A Cultura Popular na Idade Média e no Renascimento: O contexto de François Rabelais (1987[1965]) by studying the relationship between the symbolism of popular culture in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, especially the concepts of carnivalization and grotesque realism along with counter-cultural discourse. Our goal is to deepen the understanding of these Bakhtinian concepts, rereading them and integrating them into the contemporary context in which we live. We explore the concepts of culture, carnivalization and grotesque realism within Bakhtinian theory (1987[1965]; 2015[1963]) while engaging with philosophical and media studies that deal with the notions of the culture industry, mass culture and counterculture, through the notes of Herbert Marcuse (1973[1964]), Theodore Roszak (1972[1969]), Theodor W. Adorno (1947[2010]; 2021), and Ken Goffman and Dan Joy (2007[2004]). We bring these perspectives together by analyzing the images of dethronement and the grotesque body in Rock and Roll. Our conclusions suggest that carnivalesque language can be seen as a counter-cultural discourse of its time, given its transgressive, ambivalent and renewing character, as well as its showcase of the unfinished nature of the world, which always points to a future to be built and renewed.

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Author Biography

  • Ana Carolina Pais, Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas

    Doutoranda em Letras pela Universidade de São Paulo, Brasil.

References

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Published

2025-04-24

Issue

Vol. 38 No. 1 (2025): Dialogues of Bakhtin s Work and the Circle with Other Theories and Areas of Knowledge

Section

Articles

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Copyright (c) 2025 Ana Carolina Pais

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How to Cite

PAIS, Ana Carolina. Carnivalesque Language as Countercultural Discourse: Considerations on the Work of Mikhail Bakhtin. Linha D’Água, São Paulo, v. 38, n. 1, p. 161–181, 2025. DOI: 10.11606/issn.2236-4242.v38i1p161-181. Disponível em: https://revistas.usp.br/linhadagua/article/view/226638. Acesso em: 23 mar. 2026.