Have you ever noticed that no matter how bad a situation is, no matter how many negative things people have to deal with, there is always time for them to set everything aside and throw a big party? And it always seems to be the people who have the least to celebrate! What is it about a huge party, a carnival atmosphere, which draws so many people in no matter what else is going on? Mikhail Bakhtin says in “Rebelais and His World” that “carnival is the people’s second life, organized on the basis of laughter.” So why is it that “the people’s” second life revolves around laughter? Well, I know that most of us have at one point or another heard that “laughter is the best medicine,” but what is it that people are trying to heal? People, especially those who have been continuously stuck in the lower classes, have much to try to heal; physically, emotionally, and mentally. It is not an easy thing to have to have to work much harder than the upper classes only to earn a fraction of their income. I think that what Bakhtin was trying to say is that people periodically need a break from all of the stresses that abound; a time in which they can feel liberated of the systemic pressures; whether they are sociological, economical, political, or religious. But let us not leave the upper classes to assume the position of all-mighty strong and powerful people. They too have much to deal with (especially during these times of economic crisis) and so they join the festivities. So what carnival does is that it brings all people together in the spirit of fun and laughter. While it elevates the hoi polloi, it also degrades (temporarily) the ruling class. In the video clip posted above, for example, New Orleans’ Mayor Ray Nagin dressed up in costume to the delight of the crowds in New Orleans’ Fat Tuesday celebration, a time in which we can all gather around and laugh at the ridiculousness of our current situations and trade them in for beads, drinks, and maybe (for some) a little drunken debauchery.
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