This paper examines a substantial group of texts concerned with the clash between Lent and carnival. From a methodological point of view, the work proposes an interesting distinction between literature and festive ritual, but the author does not fail to anchor his analysis in the historical context and gives a full account of the Church’s point of view: between the lines of the text, therefore, we must read the real debate (mandatory for the Middle Ages) concerning the length of Lent. The dispute impinged directly on the life of the senior clergy (in opposition to that of the lower orders) but indirectly also affected the image of the Church itself, which was obliged to tighten its defense against the heretical movements. Then, in the light of the ritual, we see another important distinction develop: the literary form features an often very lively clash, which almost never occurs in ritual expressions. In the long term, the literary form was to prevail over that of ritual: the combined energies devoted by the Church were to lead, from the XVI century, to the moralizing clampdown which resulted in Lent consistently gaining the upper hand at the expense of carnival: all dictated by a concomitant (quasi Freudian) intention to repress the instincts.
I Jeux (medievali e rinascimentali) di Carnevale e Quaresima nella tradizione letteraria e teatrale europea
MOLLE, JOSE VINCENZO
2008-01-01
Abstract
This paper examines a substantial group of texts concerned with the clash between Lent and carnival. From a methodological point of view, the work proposes an interesting distinction between literature and festive ritual, but the author does not fail to anchor his analysis in the historical context and gives a full account of the Church’s point of view: between the lines of the text, therefore, we must read the real debate (mandatory for the Middle Ages) concerning the length of Lent. The dispute impinged directly on the life of the senior clergy (in opposition to that of the lower orders) but indirectly also affected the image of the Church itself, which was obliged to tighten its defense against the heretical movements. Then, in the light of the ritual, we see another important distinction develop: the literary form features an often very lively clash, which almost never occurs in ritual expressions. In the long term, the literary form was to prevail over that of ritual: the combined energies devoted by the Church were to lead, from the XVI century, to the moralizing clampdown which resulted in Lent consistently gaining the upper hand at the expense of carnival: all dictated by a concomitant (quasi Freudian) intention to repress the instincts.
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