For my appetizer presentation, I want to draw connections between the grotesque and carnivalesque to ancient East Asian art. Through this, I want to show how these themes are cross-cultural, and that the carnivalesque and grotesque have been present throughout time. To do this, I will specifically focus on Banquet Imagery that was painted on wooden panels on a burial tomb. These images focus on the role of the feast prior to burial, and depicts the different sides and emotions that emerge from a feast.
Although the connection between the Bakhtinian idea of the grotesque and Chinese banquet imagery may not be explicitly obvious, I hope that my presentation is able to open up conversation on cross-cultural themes of the grotesque and carnivalesque.
I’m excited for this! We’ve examined the Ancient Greek grotesque in connection with the Western European, but I think bringing in Eastern Asian culture would add another layer to our understanding.