59 pages • 1 hour read
Nancy Scheper-HughesDeath Without Weeping
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1992A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter 11Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 11 Summary: “Carnaval: The Dance Against Death”
Chapter 11 tracks the festival of carnaval on the Alto. The chapter begins with a brief introduction on the role of carnaval in mainstream Brazilian culture, and the significance thereof. In this mode, carnaval is a form of play based on reversal, inversion and animation, which has at its goal the upsetting of familiar conventions and states. As much a celebration of life and sensuality, carnaval is also meant to highlight the "artificial" nature of borders, boundaries, and codes, by providing a space in which these rules might be bent and broken. Moreover, carnaval is meant to represent a freer form of being and expression than what is typically permitted.
Within the atmosphere of Northeastern Brazil and Bom Jesus, the author writes, this has great significance: historically, the forces of political repression and economic marginalization add urgency to the celebration. In all, everyday life on the Alto would seem to imply such daily stress and trauma that the play of carnaval would be a welcome―if not necessary―reprieve. However, the carnaval festival in Bom Jesus is muted, and divided along class lines. The author notes little of the social inversion and license that dominate expectations of the festival. Much of this year's letdown is in no small part due to the mayor, Seu Félix, who declines to participate, or sponsor others to do participate. Throughout the town, the reaction to carnaval remains unusually tepid, even for the modest, conservative morals of the town. Nevertheless, Biu is determined to celebrate, but during the festivities, tragedy strikes: her youngest daughter, Mercea, who has been sick with pneumonia, dies. Her death is a severe shock, and Biu is never quite the same. They bury Mercea on Ash Wednesday. For the entire family, the tragedy underscores something of the true meaning of carnaval―the ubiquity of death, in life.
Chapter 11 Analysis
The focus of Chapter 11 is the festival of carnaval, and its significance to the residents of Bom Jesus. The chapter begins with sociological and philosophical treatments of the meaning of carnaval, before describing the cultural and historical meaning of this festival for the residents of the Alto. Finally, carnaval is understood through its Christian symbolism. Together, these different frames offer a concept of carnaval that is more than a party or a festival. Rather, it’s a communal attempt at meaning-making, a collaborative effort on behalf of a community to describe and express life, free from all repressions or limitations. The role of repression in carnaval is central, and varied. At its core, the author argues, carnaval represents the inversion and reversal of social hierarchies, codes, and boundaries; the object of carnaval is to allow people a chance to exist outside of these strictures. With respect to the specific context of Bom Jesus, these strictures correspond to real structures of repression, exploitation, and marginalization. The socioeconomic crises that characterize life on the Alto create the need for the residents to "escape" via play, if only for a moment. In addition to this, the suppression of grief and protest―both informal and political―create more urgency for a space of truly free expression.
However, the author expresses some disappointment with carnaval, in part because it does not live up to its theoretical potential, in part due to its partial abandonment by its middle- and upper-class participants and sponsors, and in part due to the conservative mores of the community. Although moments of relative freedom and abandon take place, these do not undo everyday societal context. Instead, carnaval in Bom Jesus seems to express the exhaustion and frustration of its citizens under the trauma of their daily life. This is driven home when Biu's youngest succumbs to pneumonia. This feeling of disenfranchisement becomes visceral, emphasizing what every resident knows: even carnaval cannot do away with reality. While meant to be a force with the potential to displace and disrupt hierarchies, carnaval ironically reinforces societal boundaries and borders.
