Bakhtin at the Seaside Literature Review

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This article explains and conceptualises the terms 'carnival' and 'carnivalesque' outlined by Mikhail Bakhtin. The concept of the 'carnivalesque' is discussed, “utopian possibilities are read into situations where there are none, while on the other, alternative utopian possibilities are overlooked in the scramble to locates and eulogize the carnival spirit.” (Webb, D  121), suggesting that the concept has been 'over-utilised' comparing the notions of the carnival in relation to a celebration of freedom and a holiday as such, which is considered against an alternative view of the carnival as meaningless fun; ‘carnival spirit’.The article applies the concepts to the English seaside resort, suggesting that the notion of the seaside resort acts as a way in which to maintain the traditional values of a specific culture, an area in which ‘utopian’ values are kept alive. This notion is then consider with the rise of modernity and the implications that this has for English resorts and the way in which they function within the growing ‘leisure industry’ which inevitably makes their faction and values invalid. The section within the article titled: The Utopian Radicalism of the Carnival Experience, proves to be very informative of Bakhtin’s theoretical structure within the concept of the ‘carnivalesque’ and analyses in relation to the notion of utopian possibilities that the ‘carnival’ tends to represent. In early renaissance times the carnival posed to provide a ‘second-life’ where people could be free of attachments: “the peoples second life, organized on the basis of laughter’, during which ‘people were, so to speak, reborn for new, purely human relations’ (Bakhtin, 1984a: 8,10)Webb goes onto list the human relations that define the ‘carnivalesque’ experience each of which has different features in regards to the personal mind and body experience, as listed in the article I have listed these features below that are different quotations of Bakhtin and have much relevance to the Venice Carnival:

• ‘during the carnival there is a temporary suspension of all hierarchic distinctions and barriers’ so that ‘all were considered equal’ (Bakhtin, 1984a: 15, 10);
• during carnival the ‘norms and prohibitions of usual life’ are suspended so that an ‘atmosphere of freedom, frankness and familiarity’ reigns (Bakhtin, 1984a: 15-16). On this basis ‘an ideal and at the same time real type of communication, impossible in ordinary life, is established’ (Bakhtin, 1984a: 92)
• during carnival the official ordering of space and time is suspended and the people become ‘organized in their own way, the way of the people. It is outside of and contrary to all existing forms of the coercive socio-economic and political organization, which is suspended for the time of the festivity’ (Bakhtin, 1984a: 255)
• The studies on UK seaside resort Blackpool by Bennett highlight the essential contributions that were paramount in regards to the growth and development of Blackpool, as a holiday resort explaining the financial support provided by tourists and the people within the local community in ensuring that the resort thrived economically.

Webb here examines the Blackpool Tower, how was built and the connotative values attached to the structure which is then related to the Eiffel Tower.
Key points in text: Relating of Bakhtin's notions of the carnivalesque to the Blackpool holidays resort, and the opposing argument which developed towards the end of the text