The Changes of the Sociocultural Role of Carnival and Charivari in the Historical Perspective

The thesis discusses the changes of the sociocultural role of Carnival and Charivari in the Western culture from the Late Middle Agges to the end of the early modern period. The thesis is graunded in the analysis of secondary literature about the carnival and charivari , which is considered to be paradigmatic in history. The analysis follows the thesis of theoretical concepts of N. Elias and M. Foucault. Both of these authors deal with establishing specific individuality of modern man based on the necessary self-control a courtesy codified by social consensus. Carnival and charivari are examples of ritualized collective transgression, which helps create the values and norms of society. Carnival is primarily an expression of popular culture, which includes ritual, play and festivities. It celebrates human nature; the bodily pleasure food, drink, sex and violence, everything that should be civilized by culture. The goal of the thesis is to examine the process of civilizing or disciplining carnival , to determine the initiators and agents of this change. Following the previous then to check whether originally spontaneous carnival festivities, games and rituals in the historical development, which is characterized by a loss of spontaneity, commercialization and professionalization, completely lost their..