Robyn Johnson (University of California - Riverside)
rjoh@****.com (Log-in to reveal)

Although Mikhail Bakhtin’s carnival was a place in which social, religious, and economic order were overturned, the reality is that carnivals, freak shows, and other forms of “wild” entertainment were places in which the dominant population could safely consume the Other, or non-dominant populations. This consumption is now not limited to carnivals, but seen in most aspects of pop culture, media, and literature. Yet many minority authors, filmmakers, and artists are resisting their consumption, allowing themselves to be ingested only to “cut out the belly of the beast.” This panel will explore the ways in which these authors, filmmakers, and artists engage with and manipulate their consumption to resist the process.

Although Mikhail Bakhtin’s carnival was a place in which social, religious, and economic order were overturned, the reality is that carnivals, freak shows, and other forms of “wild” entertainment were places in which the dominant population could safely consume the Other, or non-dominant populations. This consumption is now not limited to carnivals, but seen in most aspects of pop culture, media, and literature. Yet many minority authors, filmmakers, and artists are resisting their consumption, allowing themselves to be ingested only to “cut out the belly of the beast.” This panel will explore the ways in which these authors, filmmakers, and artists engage with and manipulate their consumption to resist the process. This resistance results in an indigestion of non-dominant populations, bringing attention to the consumption performed by the dominant. Therefore, this panel offers a significant forum in which to discuss and explore the non-dominant perspective and resistance to its consumption as well as encouraging the use of non-dominant lenses for analysis. By discussing the way in which the non-dominant create indigestion, we are taking the lens away from the dominant view and placing it on the non-dominant. Not only does this emphasize the importance of non-dominant views, but it reinforces the power of multiple perspectives. Rather than being a freak or clown for the enjoyable consumption of the dominant, these authors, filmmakers, and artists become more like court jesters, who use entertainment and art to skillfully point out the flaws of the dominant.