The grotesque and the carnivalesque in the black comedies of joe orton and lenin el-ramly / Ahmed Mohammed Ali Elhoseiny ; Supervised Mohamed Mohamed Mohamed Enani

Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Arts - Department of English

Although black humor and satire meet and diverge in some aspects, they provide a dark, rather than sympathetic and warm hint. This study looks at Joe Orton and Lenin El-Ramly's intentions in providing a satiric tone and a black humorous mood, through their use of the carnival-grotesque and the Dionysian, showing to what extent that their works are based on social observations and concerns. This dissertation attempts to fill a gap in academic research, especially in the case of El-Ramly, by attempting to link the aesthetics of carnival grotesque and the Dionysian, on one hand, with satire and socio-political criticism, on the other. It investigates to what extent the carnival-grotesque and the Dionysian are serious weapons for launching satirical attacks on man and man's institutions, for the aim of creating consciousness and achieving socio-political and cultural change. Such an examination will be conducted through Bakhtinian and Nietzschean perspectives, relying primarily on Bakhtin's Rabelais and His World and on Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy. The scope of the study includes three black comedies by Orton (Entertaining Mr. Sloane, Loot, and What the Butler Saw) and four plays by El-Ramly (Wejhat naZar [Point of View], Elhamajy [The Barbaric], Sa'dwn elmajnwn [The Crazy Sa'doon], and Taxaryf [Hallucinations]). The study attempts to prove that although the carnival-grotesque celebrates the id and man{u2019}s reunion with nature and his instincts, it is a revolutionary weapon for attacking man{u2019}s venal and stupid attitudes. It also attempts to prove that Orton{u2019}s humor is subversive and Juvenalian, if not Aristophanic, in nature while El-Ramly{u2019}s is tender and Horatian, if not Menanderian, in nature

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