Carnival and Theater (Routledge Revivals): Plebian Culture and The Structure of Authority in Renaissance England [Paperback]

In this title, first published in 1985, Michael Bristol draws on several theoretical and critical traditions to study the nature and purpose of theatre as a social institution: on Marxism, and its revisions in the work of Mikhail Bakhtin; on the theories of Emile Durkheim and their adaptations in the work of Victor Turner; and on the history of social life and material culture as practiced by the Annales school. This valuable work is an important contribution to literary criticism, theatre studies and social history and has particular importance for scholars interested in the dramatic literature of Elizabethan England.

Acknowledgements;  Part I: Theoretical Perspective  1. Playing the old works historically  2. The social function of festivity  3. Carnival and plebeian culture;  Party II: The Texts of Carnival  4. Travesty and social order  5. Butchers and fishmongers  6.'A complete exit from the present order of life;  Part III: Theater and the Structure of Authority  7. Authority and the author function  8. The dialectic of laughter  9. Clowning and devilment;  Part IV: Carnivalized Literature  10. Wedding feast and charivari  11. Treating death as a laughing matter  12. The festive agon: the politics of Carnival;  Notes;  Bibliography;  Index

In this title, first published in 1985, Michael Bristol draws on several theoretical and critical traditions to study the nature and purpose of theatre as a social institution. This valuable work is an important contribution to literary criticism, theatre studies and social history and has particular importance for scholars interested in the dramatic literature of Elizabethan England.

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