Carnaval annexé. Essai de lecture d'une fête romaine

Résumé En

Without attempting a global interpretation of the Roman carnaval, the author uses a specific example, the comparison of the Giostra and Gazzarra to isolate various salient elements of carnaval language. Although these belong to different registers, the information they provide about each other makes it possible for them to be considered as a homogeneous whole. Based on divers types of information, both written and iconographic, the analysis is conducted in three successive stages : an esthetic study of forms, a study of the factors responsible for the phenomena and finally the explicit and implicit values communicated by this official public fete which merged with the ritual of the carnaval and annexed it. How did the reigning Barberini family, through use of symbols taken over and revitalized by the 1634 Giostra del Saraceno, annex the festive virulence of the carnaval and impose their own political system and a socio-cultural model? By the use of ethnological methods, the author is able to shed some light on the carnaval ritual and the way it functioned in Roman society at the beginning of the 17th century.