Swabian-Alemannic Carnival in German Society Today - A Qualitative Research on the Contemporary Role of Carnival
2020
Research in carnival studies mainly focuses on the origins, purpose and the interpretation of symbolism
of carnival traditions. Moreover, most scientific research is conducted focusing on the historic
development, while only little research is focusing on contemporary variations and the role of carnival
for society today. Therefore, this thesis puts the experience of people into the spotlight by answering
the following research question: What role does carnival play in society today and how do participants
create identification with carnival? Hence, it concentrates on how people make sense of carnival and
how their identification process enables them to foster community cohesion. The base of this research
is interviews conducted among participants of carnival associations. By using a thematic analysation
approach the respondents’ statements were sorted into themes, which were brought into context in
order to answer the research question. As a result of numerous changes in society, but mainly due to
growing prosperity and mobility, carnival is not the only opportunity to escape from constraints of
daily life, diminishing one of its traditionally ascribed functions for (national) society. However, when
looking at it on a more local scale, carnival still plays an essential role in (local) community, as it creates
a neutral space, where regardless of a person’s societal background, people can come together.
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