Introduction
0.1SalmanRushdieandMidnight'sChildren
0.2LiteratureReview
0.3SignificanceoftheThesis
ChapterOneTheCarnivalRhetoricinMidnight'sChildren
1.1CarnivalLanguage
1.1.1LanguageofHeteroglossia
1.1.2LinguisticDeviation
1.2CarnivalRhetoricalDevices
1.2.1TheUseofMetaphor
1.2.2TheUseofSatire
1.2.3TheUseofPun
1.3Sum-up
ChapterTwoTheCarnivalCharactersinMidnight'sChildren
2.1Women'sCarnivalesqueActs
2.1.1Widow
2.1.2Witch
2.1.3UnfaithfulWives
2.2Saleem'sCarnivalesqueActs
2.2.1GrotesqueAppearanceandEccentricBehavior
2.2.2TurningintoClown
2.2.3CrowningandUncrowning
2.3Sum-up
ChapterThreeIntertextualDialogueinMidnight'sChildren
3.1IntertextualDialoguebetweenHistoryandtheText
3.1.1NationalAllegory
3.1.2FictionalizationofNationalHistory
3.2IntertextualDialoguebetweenPretextsandtheText
3.2.1BorrowingsfromWesternCulture
3.2.2BorrowingsfromIndianCulture
3.3IntertextualDialoguewithintheText
3.3.1Palimpsest
3.3.2Polyphony
3.4Sum-up
Conclusion
Thisconclusion
Focusingoncontemporaryformsofnarrative,Hutcheonarguesthatpostmodernistfictionembodiesseveralcarnivalesquestructures.Firstly,initsmetafictionalpreoccupationsanditstendencytoforegroundtheartificeofliteraryconstruction,contemporarynarrativeenactsacarnivalesquerebellionagainsttheofficialideologyofrealism(Hutcheon,1988:83-4)。Secondly,contemporaryfictionhassucceededinblurringthedistinctionbetweenhighandpopularculture,incorporating“comicbooks,Hollywoodmovies,popularsongs,andpornography”(Hutcheon,1988:87)。Thirdly,thereisatendencyforcontemporaryfictiontodrawonsexualanderoticimagery,andthustoappealtothematerialbodilyprincipleofthecarnivalesque.ForHutcheon,Bakhtin'snotionofthecarnivalesqueprovidesapotentmeansofcharacterizingpostmodernliterarytechniques.Bakhtin'scarnivaltheorythusfacilitatesanappropriatelensthroughwhichreaderscanexplorethepoliticalpotentialofpostmodernistartinthattheplayfulnessandconvivialityinherentincarnivaltheoryseemstominiaturethepostmoderncondition.
Carnivalismanifestedinavarietyofways,eitherinthegrotesqueanddualismoflanguageandcharacter,orthedialogueandpolyphonyoftextualstructure.Nevertheless,takenasawhole,Bakhtin'scarnivaltheoryisbasedonthefactthatontheonehand,hetakesfolkcultureasacorporealdramainwhichbirth,growing,eating,drinking,evacuation,excretionanddeathareonshowsuccessivelyandontheotherhand,heformulatesamythofambivalencethatdeniestheendbysublimatingdeaththroughlaughter.MaterialismandambivalencethuscanbetakenastwostartingpointofBakhtin'scarnivaltheory.Byridiculingspiritualism,death,definitenessandfiniteness,folkcultureseekstosuspendthedualismofmindandmatter,extendthehegemonyofauthoritarianinstitutionsandmaterializehisUtopiandream.IntheUtopianworld,theboundaryofhierarchyistransgressedandpeopleofdifferentsocialstatusareallowedtomakeadialogue.Bakhtin'scarnivaltheory,inthatconcern,givesafullplaytothespiritofsubversion,dialogue,transgressionandchangesandrenewal.
WithreferencetoBakhtin'scarnivaltheory,anattentativeexaminationofMidnight'sChildrenexhibitsthatthenovelaboundswithcarnivalesqueelements,likecarnivallanguage,materialbodyprinciple,laugher,parody,grotesqueimageryandheteroglossia,etc.Bakhtin'scarnivaltheoryisbothatypeofculturalpoeticsandatypeofstylisticpoetics.Asatypeofculturalpoetics,carnivaltheorynotonlyrevealstheinfluenceoffolkcultureonthelanguageandcharacterizationofliterarycreation,butalsohelpstounearththeliteraryvalueofgrotesqueandvulgaritywhichweremarginalizedbyclassicaestheticsintheliteraryhistory.
Asatypeofstylistics,carnivaltheorycontributestotheinterpretationofliteraryworksanewperspectiveandmethodology–dialogue.Rushdie'slinguisticpracticeprovestobeaquintessenceofanavantgardeliteraryattempt.Thisconceptofcarnivalspeechasalanguagefreefromofficialnormsanduseddeliberatelytosubvertofficiallinguisticstandards,acquiresaparticularsignificanceforthepostcolonialwriter.Rushdie'sanotherartisticattainmentsareembodiedinhisingeniouscharacterization.Referringtocarnivaltheory,carnivalcharactersaregenerallycharacterizedbygrotesqueappearance,rebelliousact,hallucinationsandinsanity.Anotherartisticfeaturethatservestocarnivalizethenovelistheintertextualdialogue.Thenovel,afertilesiteforthestagingofthecarnivalesqueasacentrifugalforce,providesavantagepointbywhichadialoguebetweenapluralityofideas,ideologiesandindividualsmayberepresented–especiallyinanatmosphereofweakeningcentralcontrol.