Carnavalization in the film adaptation Alice in Wonderland by Tim Burton

Abstract

The narrative Alice in Wonderland was adapted for cinema at different times in the 20th and 21st centuries, by different directors. One of the most recent intersemiotic translations on this plot took place in 2010, carried out by Tim Burton, in which it is possible to visualize carnivalesque features in the film produced. Carnivalization is the event in which the popular stratum of society has the opportunity to also participate in privileged social processes, traditionally carried out by a class holding power, such as kings, queens, popes, princes, etc. Carnival events occur through an inversion of social roles, or poles, resulting in laughter or mockery. In view of this, in this work, the film adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, by the aforementioned director, is analyzed in order to understand carnivalization in Bakhtinian terms, developed in the work. To this end, the works of Bakhtin (2005 and 2008) on Carnivalization and Discini (2006) were used as the main theoretical contribution. Five scenes from the highlighted film were analyzed, in order to understand how carnivalization happens in the cinematic narrative, its characteristics and consequences. We highlight, in fact, the presence of carnival in Tim Burton's work, in which the scenes analyzed make the work more of a carnivalesque production.