A Comparative Study of the Position of Farce and Carnival Laughter in Don Quixote and Uncle Napoléon

Mikhail Bakhtin's literary theory traces carnivalesque literature from Dostoyevsky through Rabelais, identifying Don Quixote as a key example of carnival laughter. In Bakhtin's view, carnival inverts laws, customs and beliefs, mocking all that is serious. Burlesque and parody are techniques through which this laughter finds expression. The carnivalesque writer mocks social conventions while simultaneously challenging literary tradition, treating elevated styles as ridiculous and serious subjects as absurd. The text notes that in Persian literature, Pezeshkzad employs similar techniques of parody and mockery.