Examination of Charles Bukowski's prose through Bakhtin's concept of carnivalized literatures

This thesis examines the consubstantiality of Charles Bukowski?s prose with the literary sorts which are defined as carnivalized genres by Russian literary theorist Mikhail Mikha?lovich Bakhtin. Bakhtin maintains that those genres, which he scrutinizes from ancient Greece to 19th century?s Russia, constantly regenerate by utilizing a literary heritage. In its general meaning Bakhtin?s theory is based on an idea that those literary genres, which are inspired by the unofficial nature of carnival rituals, express themselves in a similar way to carnivals, under some alternative forms. Carnivalized genres, utilizing the subversive energies of those folkloric themes for the benefit of their literary styles, attempt to subvert the author-based, authoritarian one-sided seriousness of the main stream literature conceptions. On the other hand the cosmopolitan structure, which occurs as a result of a fusion of lower and upper classes during carnival times, finds its literary reflection as dialogism in novel; which enables all the characters to have their own voices. This thesis asserts that Charles Bukowski?s prose also bears those carnivalesque items that Bakhtin conceptualizes.Key Words: Carnival, Carnivalesque, Laughter, Humour, Subversive, Unofficial, Material, Bodily