Article
Disciplining the Carnivalesque: Chris Farley's Exotic Dance
Communication and Critical / Cultural Studies
(2006)
Abstract
The comedian Chris Farley routinely performed a carnivalesque humor. This essay considers his appearances on Saturday Night Live as a critical site for understanding a dominant practice of transforming the carnival-grotesque (a positive force, according to Mikhail Bakhtin) into a burlesque (a negative aesthetic expression, according to Kenneth Burke). Particular attention is paid to a skit in which Farley performs an exotic dance, which serves as a model for this problematic endeavor. Aligned with Bakhtin’s concept of reduced laughter, this essay further considers media coverage of Farley’s death as a symptomatic extension and completion of this disciplinary practice.
Keywords
- carnivalesque;,
- grotesque,
- burlesque,
- Chris Farley,
- Bakthin,
- Kenneth Burke,
- reduced laughter
Disciplines
Publication Date
2006
Citation Information
Stephen Olbrys Gencarella. "Disciplining the Carnivalesque: Chris Farley's Exotic Dance" Communication and Critical / Cultural Studies Vol. 3 Iss. 3 (2006) p. 240 - 259 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/stephen_gencarella/7/