The Carnivalesque Theater of Dario Fo: Mistero Buffo, Can't Pay? Won't Pay! and Accidental Death of an Anarchist

• Main Authors: Chia-ching Lin, 林佳靜
• Other Authors: Hsin-fa Wu
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 1999
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/87051183713202545453

碩士 === 國立中興大學 === 外國語文學系 === 87 === This thesis attempts to analyze Dario Fo's three plays in the light of Mikhail Bakhtin's theory of carnival: Mistero Buffo, Can't Pay? Won't Pay! and Accidental Death of an Anarchist. These three plays respectively present the religious, economic, and political concerns of Dario Fo in his theatrical career. Chapter One introduces Bakhtin's theory of carnival and its relationship with Fo's plays. As a non-official discourse, Fo's political theater, especially in his farcical performance, has its subversive and regenerative powers as Bakhtin sees in carnival. Some important characteristics of carnival, such as the grotesque body, the plebeian language, the laughter, and the crowning and uncrowning, can also be found in Fo's plays. The subsequent three chapters constitute the main body of this thesis. Chapter Two studies Mistero Buffo, taking the giullare as the people's spokesman who reinterprets the Biblical stories. In his new stories, the giullare subverts the original dogma of the church and exposes the people's suffering, the social injustice, and the corruption of the church. Chapter Three discusses the economical problem presented in Can't Pay? Won't Pay! In a farcical way, the plebeians rise up against the high price of food and fight against exploitation in the capitalist society. Chapter Four focuses on the farcical re-writing of official report in Accidental Death of an Anarchist. The Maniac intrudes the police station and re-writes the official statement on an "accidental suicide." This play unfolds the corruptive and hypocritical authority in a satirical way. Through the Maniac, the predominant power of orthodox discourse is subverted. Chapter Five, the conclusion, summarizes the foregoing discussions.