Naslov
The concept of time in carnival

Autori
Lozica, Ivan

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Skup
The concept of time and space in European folklore

Mjesto i datum
Ljubljana, Slovenija, 06.09.2007. - 09.09.2007

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Pozvano predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
carnival; time; interregnum

Sažetak
Carnival customs are channelled by the calendar to provide a semblance of the commencement of a new annual cycle in society. The historical determinacy of Carnival and its ever-mocking, oppositionist and critical stance towards ruling institutions often bothers the secular powers-that-be. Unlike the Church, which has learned the wisdom of being restrained regarding Carnival issues, politicians sometimes react nervously and heavy-handedly. To them, power is of this world and their comprehension of history is basically linear. The cyclical conception of time as a rhythmic opening and closing of annual circles is unhistorical, creating the impression of eternity and constancy, and offering protection from the terror of history. In contrast, political power is steeped in history, it sets up a new time in a linear manner, commencing with the establishment of authority, and it aspires to progress into eternity. Carnival time has a particular, autonomous status. Similarly to an embassy that enjoys autonomous exterritorial status in a foreign land, Carnival has the autonomy of extra-temporality in its own community. It is a seemingly unhistorical, extra-historical period of the year, a regular annual victory of the cyclical notion of time over the linear, historical time of the ruling order, made possible and conditioned by tradition (although only symbolically). The victory is not an actual one – it is a staged, enacted victory. Carnival is a regular, cyclical state of exception, an annual interregnum regulated by tradition. The sovereign does not proclaim it, though he can try to place a ban on Carnival. Carnival is a simulated, ritualized and controlled justitium, a mock mourning. The practice of annual renewal is based on human understanding of time ; it precedes religious and political systems. The mythical Carnival interregnum cannot be cancelled — it can only be replaced by a genuine, historical interregnum.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Povijest umjetnosti, Znanost o umjetnosti, Etnologija i antropologija

POVEZANOST RADA