The aim of this thesis is to investigate the Carnivalesque in Northern Irish contemporary visual art from 1970 up to the present. The carnivalesque has a complex meaning, but essentially, it is taken to describe the inversion of power structures within society. It also changes the monologic view that society holds on many issues. Carnival achieves this through the use of parody, humour, satire and irony.
The inversion of the political and ideological authority of the Church and state is something that is discussed in Northern Irish contemporary art, through the mediums of photography, video, instillation, sculpture, painting, and performance art, in addition to being vital to other modes of cultural production such as political cartoons, comic caricature etc. Comedy combined with the terrorist conflict in Northern Ireland is used to create this inversion of the authority of church and state. Therefore, Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of carnival forms the central reference point for the investigation.
This thesis sets out to examine what role the carnivalesque plays in the contemporary visual art of Northern Ireland. Does the carnivalesque element within Northern Irish art challenge popular opinions? Does it raise valid questions, never asked before?
This thesis does not intend to be historically comprehensive or to offer an overview of a changing cultural and social scene, but rather to work with sometimes discrete and sometimes related moments in the art and culture of Northern Ireland, which in multiple ways identify the importance of the comic as an aesthetic and political category.
At present, there are very few references to carnival in published writings on Northern Irish contemporary visual art. Any references that have been found are made in passing and not the central idea behind the piece of critical writing. Therefore, this thesis will present a fresh, new, interesting way to critically look at the work of Northern Irish visual artists.