| ||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £3.75
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Rabelais and His World for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £3.75, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
This classic work by the Russian philosopher and literary theorist Mikhail Bakhtin (1895-1975) examines popular humor and folk culture in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. One of the essential texts of a theorist who is rapidly becoming a major reference in contemporary thought, Rabelais and His World is essential reading for anyone interested in problems of language and text and in cultural interpretation.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I found Bakhtin's claim that the tradition of the Socratic and Menippean satire found its 'rebirth', after the religious 'monologue' of the Dark Ages, in the writings of Rabelais and other Renaissance Literature quite compelling. Through a detailed analysis of Rabelais work, Bakhtin stresses the importance of popular culture in terms of ridiculing the dominant authoritative discourse and subverting hierarhies, which did not just occur during the carnival season but it usually found its expression in the popular square. There is also the concept of 'grotesque realism' which is used by Rabelais to expose the subordination of the human body and its function by the dominant ideology. In short, I recommend the book to anyone who is interested in the importance of popular satire not just in literature but in life itself.
13 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I first read Bakhtin's book on Rabelais when I was 22. At the time I was struggling to find a way to go on being a leftist, with the Berlin Wall coming crashing all around me. Bakhtin showed me how.
It is still the best introductory course on laughter and its liberating qualities. Not to be missed by anyone interested in understanding how laughter works
It is still the best introductory course on laughter and its liberating qualities. Not to be missed by anyone interested in understanding how laughter works
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
45 of 52 people found the following review helpful
The Roots of Our Bittersweet Laughter
8 Jun 2000
Format:Paperback
Take your time with this academic book and you will be rewarded. It rediscovers the spirit of the Medieval carnival. The tradition stemmed from ancient Greek and Rome and its function was to give a vent to people's death fear and anger over social injustice. "Everything was allowed" and for a short period of time the social taboos were erased. Fools and prostitutes were "crowned" to embody Kings, Queens, Pope, saints, monks and nunns. And the chosen ones were mocked, ridiculed, assailed and beaten and stoned and "dethrowned" and "impeached."
Is this tradition dead today? Think twice -- think David Letterman, Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien and especially Howard Stern, and you will be amazed to find astoundig parallels between the past and modern times.
22 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Unique and ground-breaking
20 Jun 2003
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is simply the best analysis of the "Carnivalesque" and is a valuable preface to Rabelais' novel itself. Bakhtin's book alerts the reader of Rabelais to his (Rabelais') masterful use of language and explores the sources of medieval popular culture that served his purposes. I have enjoyed Rabelais with much deeper understanding having first read Bakhtin.
Bakhtin and Rabelais both negotiated cultural minefields to produce their works. Both deserve to be more widely read.
32 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Bakhtin celebrates the renaissance of the Russian Revolution
14 Sep 1999
Format:Paperback
Mikhail Bakhtin first began "Rabelais and His World" in 1917 during the heady days of the Russian Revolution. Like some of the colleges of today, the University of St. Petersburg at the height of the Revolution boasted a flexible curriculum and encouraged free thought among its students. While the gunfire echoed in the streets, Bakhtin and his colleagues gathered to declare the Russian Revolution the "Third Renaissance". This comparison between the Italian Renaissance and the Russian Revolution inspired him to begin his dissertation on Rabelais. The events of the Revolution swept everyone up into the societal transitions. No one could just be a bystander. From this all-encompassing mood of social interaction arose Bakhtin's concept of the "theater without footlights". As for the significance of the individual in the Carnivalesque one has only to look to the Fool. Bakhtin considered his first reading of Friedrich Nietzsche an epiphany. The great German philosopher remained one of Bakhtin's most important influences throughout his writing career. The Fool, as an extension of the carnival, is the ultimate Nietzschean character. Able to move between worlds, he demonstrates the power of the individual to transcend societal norms. Bakhtin states, "the images of folk culture are absolutely fearless and communicate this fearlessness to all". The Fool is representative of this utopian ideal personified in the individual.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
