Carnivalized Public Corruption: Old Feudalism and New Democracy in All the King's Men, Wise Blood, and Raag Darbari
Document Type
Article
Department or Administrative Unit
English
Publication Date
3-2010
Abstract
In this essay, a structural pattern is examined that informs three twentieth-century novels written within a twenty-five year period, two set in the United States and one in post-independence India, by way of showing how each work is framed by competing forces of an old feudalism, represented by its hierarchic formations and differentiated class divisions, and a new democracy, represented by its populist reformations and integrationist agenda. The works examined are: Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men (1946), Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood (1952), and Shrilal Shukla's Raag Darbari (1969). Applying Mikhail Bakhtin's critical analysis of carnivalization and dialogism, it proposes a pattern of failed quests common to the three protagonists trying to build a dialogic community in a monologic culture.
Recommended Citation
Rath, Sura Prasad. “Carnivalized Public Corruption: Old Feudalism and New Democracy InAll the King’s Men,Wise Blood, AndRaag Darbari.” Comparative American Studies An International Journal, vol. 8, no. 1, 2010, pp. 39–56. https://doi.org/10.1179/147757010x12658885872332.
Journal
Comparative American Studies
Rights
© W. S. Maney & Son Ltd 2010
Comments
This article was originally published in Comparative American Studies. The full-text article from the publisher can be found here.
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