Mikhail Bakhtin's famous work, "Carnival and Carnivalesque," explores the significance of the carnival as a central form of celebration throughout European history. According to Bakhtin, the carnival is not merely a performance but an event where the boundaries between spectators and performers dissolve. Everyone who participates in the carnival "lives it," creating a world turned upside down, distinct from everyday life.
Bakhtin identifies four key aspects of the carnivalistic sense of the world. Firstly, it allows for free and familiar interactions between people who are typically separated. Secondly, eccentric behavior, which would usually be deemed unacceptable, becomes legitimate, revealing hidden aspects of human nature. Thirdly, the carnivalistic misalliances enable connections between elements that are usually kept apart, such as the sacred and the profane, the old and the new, or the high and the low. Lastly, the carnival is a site of sacrilege, where blasphemy, profanity, and parodies of sacred things take place. For Bakhtin, these categories represent not abstract notions of freedom and equality, but rather a lived experience of the world, manifested through sensory ritualistic acts that blend seamlessly with life itself.
Bakhtin notes that while the carnival was confined to a specific time, it extended beyond physical boundaries and permeated even private spaces, including houses. However, the town square and its adjacent streets were the central locations of the carnival, symbolizing its universality and accessibility to all people.