A Call For Carnivalization

Frequently recognized together with such writers as Katherine Anne Porter, Eudora Welty and Flannery O’Connor as the most eminent female southern writers in America, Carson Mc Cullers established her fame for her interest in the “Gothic” and her repeated investigation into the theme of spiritual isolation and loneliness.This thesis studies two of Carson Mc Cullers’ novels, The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter and The Member of the Wedding, and a novella The Ballad of the Sad Café, through the perspective afforded by Bakhtin’s theory of carnivalization. In so doing, it seeks to discover what Mc Cullers saw as the real causes of the eternal loneliness that haunted Mc Cullers’ characters. Mc Cullers believed that the “lonely hunters” in her works are in need of a carnivalistic place, be it a tiny “quiet room”, a long-awaited wedding or a restored café, for comfort. She also regretted the fact that the carnival, which does not last long, and therefore, is incapable of curing this “common disease” of her characters, for in all cases, the lonely souls, after feeling momentary relief, will eventually return to the same old feeling of loneliness.The thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter One introduces Carson Mc Cullers as a writer and her literary works, reviews the literary criticisms, introduces Bakhtin’s theory of carnivalization, and presents the structure of the thesis. Chapter Two examines The Heart is A Lonely Hunter and demonstrates how the “hunters” attempt to seek relief from “loneliness” in the carnivalistic “quiet room”. Critical elements of carnivalization, such as free communication, carnivalistic acts and paired characters, are also highlighted to explain why the carnival world eventually falls apart. Chapter Three points on the “wedding” as a carnivalistic space and examines the freakish adolescent, the female grotesque and the sense of becoming the “we of me”. It also explains how the otherwise carnivalistic “wedding” turns out to be a nightmare for the adolescent. Chapter Four offers a critical analysis of The Ballad of the Sad Café, in which the “café” is depicted as a Utopia, and demonstrates how it starts, what changes it brings to the townsfolk and what becomes of it in the end. The last chapter is the conclusion. By examining Mc Cullers’ works within Bakhtin’s theory of carnivalization, this thesis contends that, in Carson Mc Cullers’ literary world, the only possible way to get rid of loneliness and isolation is to create a carnival world. Although this ideal world does not exist for long for historic or social reasons, Mc Cullers’ effort to uncover the causes of spiritual isolation and to offer possible solutions to the problem is profoundly interesting. Her works will always serve as perfect evidence that she was a writer of social responsibility who cared about the well-being of her community.