Mihail Bahtin on the Carnival

Abstract

The paper offers an analysis of Bahtin's concept of the carnival, which in his view has its own logic, philosophy, and laws. Bahtin gives his own interpretation of the carnival in several works, but particularly in Rabelais and Folk Culture of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. By looking at this work and the work of other authors on this subject, the paper seeks to present systematically the concept of the carnival, and to provide understanding of the theory's significance and its great popularity among culture and society theorists.