Carnivalization In Donald Barthelme's Snow White

Donald Barthelme (1937-1989) is the father of postmodern fiction in American literature. His Snow White has aroused great concern ever since its publication. This thesis intends to interpret Barthelme's Snow White according to Bakhtin's carnival theory and hopefully to establish a theoretical connection between this novel with Bakhtin's poetics of carnivalesque.Barthelme's Snow White is a parody of the traditional fairy tale Snow White. After rewriting the story is completely different from the original one. This novel, with its innovative form, heterogeneous language and grotesque plot has reflected a strong carnival sense of the world.In applying the carnival theory to this novel, this thesis makes a detailed analysis of the carnivalization of this novel. In this novel, carnivalization is shown in the crowning/decrowning of fairy tale characters. After rewriting, the author deconstructed the original images of Snow White, the prince, the witched queen and etc. are broken as well as the traditional value system containing in fairy tales. Carnivalization of this novel also is shown in four carnival categories, they are: free and familiar contact, eccentricity, carnivalistic misalliance and blasphemies. Besides, carnivalization can be seen in the plot composition of this novel. In conclusion, this novel is permeated with a strong carnival sense of the world or carnival spirit.This thesis can be divided into three parts. Part One is an introduction to Donald Barthelme and his novels, the research background, the objectives and significance of this research. Part Two includes an introduction of Bakhtin's carnival theory and a detailed analysis of Barthelme's Snow White. Chapter One is mainly about the carnival theory proposed by Bakhtin and the feasibility of carnival theory to this novel. Chapter Two is about the crowning/decrowning of characters. Chapter Three is an analysis of carnival categories in this novel. Chapter Four focuses on the carnivalization of the plot. Part Three is the conclusion of the thesis. Through a deep analysis of the novel, a strong carnival sense of the world is reflected in its carnivalistic characteristics.