Mikhail Bakhtin’s Concept as a Method for Studying the Russian Folk Culture of Laughter (based on materials of the 1920s from the Penza Region) – МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫЙ ЖУРНАЛ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЙ КУЛЬТУРЫ

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Galina N. RYABOVA
Penza State University
40, Krasnaya Street, Penza, 440026 Russian Federation
Department of Fine Art and Culture Studies
PhD in History
Associate Professor
e-mail: ryabogalina@yandex.ru
ORCID: 0000-0003-0876-1069

Mikhail Bakhtin’s Concept as a Method for Studying the Russian Folk Culture of Laughter (based on materials of the 1920s from the Penza Region)

Abstract: The article focuses on the possibility of applying Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of laughter in studying culture of the Russian peoples. A great number of modern scientists emphasize the necessity of an extensive and profound understanding of Bakhtin’s creative heritage. That is why the problem under consideration is relevant. According to Bakhtin, there are three forms of folk laughter culture, such as ceremonial and spectacular events, verbal phrasing of laughter, and various forms and genres of familiar and areal speech. Based on vast ethnographic material, the author analyzes the existence of these forms among the peoples of the Penza region in the 1920s. Ceremonial and spectacular events are represented by traditional folk holidays and wedding ceremony rituals. Such forms of oral folk art as ditties, comic songs, fairy tales, proverbs and sayings, and riddles are considered to be verbal phrasing of laughter. Since one can’t imagine traditional holidays or wedding ceremonies without comic songs and ditties, these forms are closely related to each other. The research into the folk culture of laughter of the Penza region has shown the possibility of using Bakhtin’s concept of carnival culture as a scientific method. Key statements and ideas of this concept are quite applicable for studying the Russian folk culture of laughter. The main forms and types of carnival culture highlighted by Bakhtin were found in the ethnic culture among the peoples of the Penza region in the 1920s.

Key words: forms of folk culture of laughter, culture of the Penza region, Bakhtin’s concept of laughter.

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For Citation:

Ryabova, G. (2023) Mikhail Bakhtin’s Concept as a Method for Studying the Russian Folk Culture of Laughter (based on materials of the 1920s from the Penza Region). International Journal of Cultural Research, 1 (50). 131–171. DOI: 10.52173/2079-1100_2023_1_131

DOI: 10.52173/2079-1100_2023_1_131