| While many consider carnival a party, it actually informs its society of the relation of “high” and “low” aesthetics and facilitates a reversal of power and expression of freedom within a hegemonic structure. In this paper I shall outline the origins of Carnival and explore the social function of costumes in Mardi Gras, relying on the theoretical framework of Bakhtin, Bataille, and Foucault. I reference the “grotesque” to characterize the imagery of Carnival and create a central framework for my claim that subversive symbolism dominates Cajun Mardi celebrations. Theories by Bakhtin, Foucault, and Bataille inform this argument as all three oppose official and stratified concepts of the body. I will trace the lineage of Carnival from Medieval France to Acadia, and then focus my studies of Mardi Gras to examples of a rural town in Louisiana in order to concentrate on symbolic traits of the costumes I’ve created. |