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Rabelaisand HisWorld

IndianaUniversityPress

Bloomington

/Rabelaisand His World 1/

FirstMidlandBookEdition1984

Rabelais

Moscow,KhudozhestvenniaIiteratura,1965.

of Copyright©1968 byTheMassachusettsInstituteofTechnology

Copyright©1984IndianaUniversityPress

Allrightsreserved

No partof thisbookmay bereproducedorutilizedinanyformor byany or by

Presses'

prohibition.

ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica

Bakhtin,M. M.(MikhailMikhallovich),1895-1975.

Rabelais

andhisworld. nevekov'iaiRenessansa.

Includesindex.

sance. 5.Fiction.6.Carnival.

I.Title.

PQ1694·B313)9

84843'·384-47792

ISBN£r-253-34830-7

ISBN£r-253-20341-4(pbk.)

567939291

CONTENTS

FOREWORDKrystynaPomorskaVll

PROLOGUEMichaelHolquistxiii

INTRODUCTION

ONERabelaisintheHistoryofLaughter59

FOURBanquetImageryinRabelais278

SEVENRabelais'ImagesandHisTime437

INDEX475

FOREWORD

be authorshipwere amysteryeveninhisnativeRussia.Today,Bakh viiiFOREWORD concernwas asubjectas"enigmatic"asliterature?Inresponse,we mustlookto hisfundamentalideasaboutart,itsontology,andits context. Hisrootsintheintellectuallife oftheturnofthecentury, andconveyinga system ofvalues,afunctionthatfollowsfromthe sages. Insuchstatements.sBakhtinrecognizesthedualityof every sign becauseof its content.Inotherwords,"form"isactivein anystruc tureas a specificaspectof a"message." Even semiosisoutside thedomainofart,or, as heputit, intheorganiza tionof life itself.

Inoppositiontointerpretationsof life asinert

claimsthatlifeitself(traditionallyconsidered"content")is orga nizedby humanacts ofbehaviorandcognition(postupokipoz nanie)andisthereforealreadychargedwitha system ofvaluesat thisorganized "material"intoanewsystem whosedistinctionis to marknewvalues.Bakhtin'ssemioticorientationandhis pio neeringmodernityofthoughtaregroundedin hisaccountingfor humanbehaviorascommunicationand,eo ipso,hisrecognition of thegoal-directednessof allhumanmessages. As a obsession"asMichaelHolquistcalls it, or, as wemightalso say, a perfect understandingoflanguageas a system; hemanagedto use language comprehendedas amodelfor hisanalysisofart,spe cifically theartofthenovel.Besides hisrevolutionarybookon Dostoevsky,his essay "Disco·urseintheNovel"3("Slovovromane"), demonstratingin hisworkstheparticulartransformationsof

FOREWORDix

languagenecessary toproducethegenrelabeledthe"novel."In contradistinctiontopoetry,Bakhtindefinesthenovel as a"multi plicityof styles" (mnozhestvostilei)intheirmutualechoing,or as thewordconstantlyreinvolvedin adialogue(whichhe calls romannoeslovo-the"novelisticword").Behindeachreplyin this novelis alwayssociallychargedandthusnecessarilypolemical. Thereis noone-voicednovel,and,consequently,everynovelby its very natureispolemical. modernsemioticsis hisdiscoverythatquotedspeech(chuzhaia rech') this phenomenonin a vastnumberofexamplesfrom allareasof life: to thefactthatwe areactuallydealingwithsomeoneelse'swords tosomeoneelse'swords(in thecase ofethics);or werepresentthem inordertoargue,disagree,ordefendthem(inthecase of law); or, finally,we words (includingourown).Ineach casesomeoneelse'sspeech makes pensablefactorin thecreativepoweroflanguage. A furtherdomainofBakhtin'sinterest,andthesourceof his methodology,is folk culture.Evenmorethanlanguageandsemi otics.s hisconcern withfolkculturederivesfromtheRussiantra ditionof hisyouth.JustastheMontpellierschool ofRabelais's of xFOREWORD pertainsnotonlyto a socialbutalso to anethnichierarchy.The "dialogue"occupiedTrubetzkoyall his life."Thesameistrueof inEurope. Bakhtin'sideasconcerningfolkculture,withcarnivalas its indispensable component,areintegralto histheoryofart.The of styles(mnogostil'nost').Thus,thecarnivalprinciplecorre spondsto Onemaysaythatjustasdialogizationisthesine quanonforthe Since thenovelrepresentsthevery essence of life,itincludesthe ofthis nishedtruthundertheveil of falseclaimsandarbitraryranks. Now, languageas a system as well asinthenovelas astructure-isexactly thesame.BakhtinrepeatedlypointstotheSocratiandialogueas a (avtoritarnoeslovo)inthesameway ascarnivalisopposedto official zones ofcooperationwithothertypes ofwords,the"authoritarian turalstrataasinvalidorharmful.

FOREWORDxi

thecarnivalesquein hisnativeliteraryheritage."However,the scholars haveclaimedthathumor,inthewesternsense, ispre

Mayakovsky,

sky's humor,"andcameclose toperceivingits essence; yettheydid notattainBakhtin'sdepthandexactitude. missar totheSovietstate'srejectionof freesatireandconcernwithna is uniquelycharacteristicofthehumanspecies.

Krystyna

Pomorska

NOTES

1.TranslatedfromtheRussianbyHeleneIswolsky,forewordby Kry

stynaPomorska(Cambridge:MITPress, 1968).

1975)·

xiiFOREWORD

3.InTheDialogicImagination:FourEssays byM. M.Bakhtin,ed.

Michael

4. See V. N.Voloshinov,Marksizmi filosofiia iazyka(Leningrad,1930);

MarxismandthePhilosophyofLanguage(New York,1973).

5.

DreiMaskenVerlag,

1922).

6. See hisKproblemerusskogosamopoznaniia(Evraziiskoeknigoiz

datel'stvo,

1927).

tion. 8.

InProblemypoetikiDostoevskogo.

9. See

I. I.Lapshin,"KomicheskoevproizvedeniiakhDostoevskogo," in 0Dostoeuskom,ed. A. L. Bern(Prague,

1933).

PROLOGUE

Althoughtheword"intelligentsia"isoriginallyRussian,it was bestdefinedby Karl

Mannheimwhen,inIdeologyAndUtopia,he

wrote, it is to provideaninterpretationoftheworldforthatsociety. We callthese the'intelligentsia.'"1Solargea task isdifficultat any time, capacityto this xivPROLOGUE livedthroughitwerewillynillythrownintotheworkof his tory.

Noonewasallowedtheluxuryof aspectator'srole.Those

andeatpopcorn-orreadbooks.Therevolutiongave aparticu Theuniquespecies ofhistoricaleventwe call arevolutionoccurs usedfor this wouldletitselfbeknown.Itis inthenatureofrevolutionsthatno being.Thosewhofoughtforchange,as well asthosewhoresisted it, areconfrontedwiththepostlapsarianmandateto livetheirlives withoutausablepast.

AmongthemanythingsMikhailBakhtinattemptsto accom

plishinRabelaisandHisWorldisthejobhe, as aRussianintel lectualof histime,wascalleduponbyhistorytoundertake:to interprettheworldfor his society.IntheRabelaisbookBakhtin we callrevolutionbringsforthtextswithpeculiarformsofunity. AtonelevelRabelaisandHisWorldis aparableandguidebook for itstimes,inexplicablewithoutreferencetothecloseconnection betweenthecircumstancesof itsownproductionandSovietintel-

PROLOGUExv

anywhereatanytime,it is acontributiontohistoricalpoeticswith theoreticalimplicationsnotlimitedby itsoriginin aparticular tweenthebook'scool officialreceptionintheSovietUnionandits couldbeeasily(in 1984,inthemidstofwhatseemedincreasingly to be a ColdWarII,alltooeasily)explainedaway as yetanother do so is tomisperceive muchofthebook'sdistinctiveness.Soviets thatforeignscholarsoftenmiss astheyhastilynoteobviouspar allels

Sovietcritics

to a peculiarlySovietreality.Andwewouldbewrongto dothe plexityisanotherway toundervaluethehistoricalrelevanceof ferences createdaspecialkindofopentextthattheyexploredas ameans forinscribingthemselvesintotheirtimes.

BothRabelaisandBakhtinknewthattheywerelivingin an

in lesstroubledages lost itscertainty,wasplungedintocontestand flux.UnlikeDickensin hisfamousopeningtoATaleofTwo thesame.Therewereperiods,suchas hisown,whencertaingen saw in itanagesimilarto hisowninitsrevolutionaryconsequences anditsacutesense ofoneworld'sdeathandanotherworld'sbeing thelessfeelsjustified inclaimingthatin hisbookRabelais,after xviPROLOGUE fourhundredyears ofincomprehension,isfinallyunderstood.He froman age of of likeit.RabelaisandHisWorldis, ofcourse,aboutthesubversive opennessof theRabelaisiannovel,butit is also asubversively openbookitself.

MasterVilIon,a

roguewho wishes toorganizeatravestiedpassion play. All that.islackingis acostumeforthecharacterwho is to play whatViJIonintends,refusestolendanychurchvestmentsfor so devilishapurpose.

ThepranksterVillontakesrevengebystaging

arehearsal dragged alongthegrounduntilonlythestumpof his foot isleft

VilIon,

sentativeof theChurchthroughhisparodyof a play, soRabelais, theauthor,seeks todestroytheforces of stasisandofficialideology throughhisparodyof anovel.AsBakhtinsays,"Inhisnovel,and bymeansof hisnovel,RabelaisbehavesexactlyasdidVillon.... Heusesthepopular-festivesystem ofimages...toinflicta severe punishmentonhis foe,theGothicage" (p.268). inhis works:whathe issayingabouttherelationofRabelaisto

Villondescribesveryaccurately

Bakhtin'sownrelationtoRabelais.

betweena stasisimposedfromabove andadesireforchangefrom below,betweenoldandnew, officialandunofficial.Intreatingthe specific waysRabelaissoughtholesinthewallsbetweenwhatwas

PROLOGUExvii

heldto bepunishableandwhatunpunishableinthe1530s, primaryfocus ofthegovernment'seffortstobringSovietintellec tualinstitutionsintoline.In1932 allauthors,nomatterwhattheir yearslatertherewas aconcertedefforttocapthisinstitutional leader,oneparty,oneaesthetic.Aspartofthecampaignin 1934 to seriesofdiscussions onthenatureofthenovel,consideredthemost ticipated,werepublishedin 1935 inthemajortheoreticaljournal, TheLiteraryCritic.ItwasnotbychancethatBakhtin'snew con Althoughnowwidelyknownas atheoristofthenovel,Bakhtin with,ofcourse,theexceptionof his 1929bookonDostoevsky.PThe overwhelmingmajorityof hispublicationsinthe1920Snotonly Hewas, in effect,proposinghisvisionofthenovelgenreas a cele brationoflinguisticandstylisticvarietyas acountertotight media,suchas filmsorpainting)proposedby officialspokesmenfor ismadeinthisbookis apoint-by-pointinversionofcategoriesused in thethirtiestodefineSocialistRealism. IntheRabelaisbookBakhtinalso initiateda specificdialogue xviiiPROLOGUE beforehis deathin 1933,Lunacharskyhadsetupagovernment bookcalled addressedtheAcademyof Sciencesonthehistoricalimportanceof satire,especiallyits Publishedin 1935,thisspeechhadagalvanizingeffectonBakhtin, whowas atthatpointstillinexileinKazakhstan.Lunacharsky, book,which hisarrestin 1929;andLunacharsky'sbasicargument,thatcarni val was a kindof safety valve forpassionsthecommonpeople mightotherwisedirecttorevolution,flewdirectlyintheface ofthe evidenceBakhtinwasthencompilingfor his firstsketchesofthe

Rabelaisbook.

book,is or,leastof all,withself-servingfestivalsfosteredbygovernments, secular notfromacalendarprescribedbychurchorstate,butfroma force thatpreexistspriestsandkingsandto whosesuperiorpowerthey areactuallydeferringwhentheyappearto belicensingcarnival. folk, inhistory.RabelaisandHisWorldis ahymntothecommon tin's utopianvisionofthefolk wasnottheonlyoneabroadat thetime,andinordertoappreciateitforwhatit was, weshould rememberitwasonlyoneside of adialogueaboutthenatureof thefolk.Needlessto say,Bakhtinwastheunofficialside.The official side wasrepresentedbytheimmenselypowerfuldoyenof

Soviet

of Writersin 1934,itwasGorkywhourgedtheassembled"culture

PROLOGUExix

tundrawereimportedtoMoscowandset tocreatingnewepics favoriteactress,

LyubovOrlova,showedersatzpeasantsfromthe

talentcontestswhichwereheldin astylizedMoscowdepictedin thesefilms as asecondKitezh, theunderwaterwondercityvisited by

Sadkointheancientbylina.

Bakhtin'simageofthefolk is alsoopentothechargeofidealiza tion, pantlyphysical,revelinginoceansofstrongdrink,poodsof sau sage, Biedermeier,thatworldof lacecurtains,showilydisplayedwater eachfinds itsmostcomprehensivemetaphorin"thefolk." Thequestionarises,ifthisbookis soclearlyatoddswithofficial culturein itsowntimeandplace,howdiditevergetpublished? thirtiesintoasingletextin1940andsubmittedit as athesistothe GorkyInstituteofWorldLiteraturein Moscow.Thedefenseof thethesiswasdelayedby anumberoffactors,primarilytheout xxPROLOGUE clearthatdefenseinthiscase wastobemorethanaformalaca a placeattheheightofthe"anti-cosmopolitancampaign,"a frenzy of postwarxenophobiawhosepurposewas toletSovietintellec tuals yearshadcome toanend.OnAugust14, 1946,theCentralCom greatestscholars,a profoundstudentofromancephilologyanda hediedin1906, hisexamplewasstillaninspirationtomanySoviet intellectuals, lovskyism was thetheoristofSocialistRealismandquondam aboutaFrenchwriter,notonlywas itguiltyoftheheresyof opponentsatthedefense. Bakhtin's"discovery"by agroupofyoungscholarsattheGorky Instituteintheearly1960s, acampaignwasmountedbyVadim lishedas abook.Thetacticswerecarefullyorchestrated:Bakhtin wouldfirstreappearontheSovietscene in 1963 asauthorof a second tohavethisbookquotesdbs_dbs31.pdfusesText_37

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