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

This thesis probes into the concept and the significance of the mask as well as its relation to power and authority (and their shift) from a critical perspective. The study sets Mikhail Bakhtin{u2019}s theory of carnivalesque as a point of departure, since the mask presents one of the carnival{u2019}s major features. The thesis targets presenting an analysis of the nature of power relationships as well as the factors that impact them and the effectiveness of the mask as a tool of gaining or resisting power. The study also delves into theories of power relationships as analyzed by some intellectuals, incorporating nature and poles of these relationships as well as the factors that determine them. Besides, the thesis surveys the various motivations that pave the way to the initiation of an appropriate medium for the shift of power and the eradication of tyrannical systems.The thesis poses various questions around some aspects that accompany power relationships, such as hypocrisy and despair that manifest in diverse forms, since these practices require concealing and masking.The study handles power relationships from a cultural, social and political perspectives, highlighting the impact of these dimensions in the imbalance or distortion of power relationships.The thesis also illustrates the emergence of the figure of the abject as a cultural, social and political outcast as an inevitable outcome of these power relationships.The thesis presents a comparative study of works of art that utilize the medium of Bakhtin{u2019}s carnival as an example of the moment at which the oppressed set themselves free of tyrannical systems. These include social and political systems that are characterized by intellectual stagnancy, suppression of freedom and the submission to arbitrary rules and orders

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