For carnival, people dress up and engage in masquerades, to mark an alternative to daily life. But, beyond all the sparkle, the noise and the bright colors there is a whole cultural background that leads to the act of dressing up and disguising yourself as someone else.

Carnival originated in Catholic communities, but sometimes it was celebrated by people of other faiths as well. It has a lot of correspondents in many cultures, but there are a lot of differences, as well as similarities between the European carnival and “playing dress-up” in other cultures.

As stated before, carnival parties usually happen right before Lent. Lent is a six week period before Easter, during which one must perform pious and perform penitential practices. Fasting is also something a Christian must do during this time of year, which means that he must abstain from eating certain foods and pray, while parties and other similar events are forbidden. The modern-era carnival appeared as a “pre-event” to this, as all the rich food present in a community needed to be disposed before this time of year. And, while carnival became part of the Catholic calendar, its origins date back to Ancient Rome when people used to celebrate Saturnalia and Bacchanalia, which were absorbed into the Catholic carnival.

Cultural meaning

Dressing up as someone else is a way of coping with actions that are not socially acceptable

The act of dressing up as someone else is very common around the world. It has been here for ages and it seems to keep evolving, as its forms keep changing in our modern dynamic. Why do we dress up as someone or something else? It is important to notice that tribesmen usually dress up when they perform a certain ritual or engage in certain activities. These activities can include rites of passage or even going to war. Why did the people from pre-industrial (which is the politically correct term for “primitive”) times paint their bodies and dress up when they went to fight against another tribe? The answer is simple, if we choose to take a closer look at the issue. Let’s go a little deeper and look at other situations for which people used to dress up as somebody else, before we give a definitive answer. In many cultures, religious practices also involve identity changes. While some embellish their bodies to represent their ancestors, others dress up as sacred animals or gods whom they ask for help. What do all these things tell us? They tell us that when people change their visual identity, they no longer represent themselves, but someone else and that the acts they perform are not “performed” by “them”, but by the entity they represent. Therefore, it’s not the shaman that has the power, it’s the spirit he channels and therefore he is not a god, it’s not the tribesman who kills somebody, it’s the supreme spirit that requires it. In religious practices, a normal person becomes a mystic creature, recognizing the fact that he is not more important than the others, and that he is simply the carrier of a message, while in practices where violence is used, the aggressor is not being held responsible for his actions.

Dressing up as someone else is a way of coping with actions that are not socially acceptable. This is why, during carnival, the people of the community hat celebrated it, used to do a lot of things that were not accepted by the Church, such as getting drunk, engaging in fights or promiscuity, and some automatically considered themselves absolved of their sins. There are many examples of such activities all around the world. For example, in a part of Africa, there is a holiday when men dress as women and women dress as men. Of course, these practices would not be accepted outside the context of “tradition and fun”.

Of course, these reasons are not absolute and definitive. For each person, carnival has a different meaning and each culture that celebrates carnival does it in their own way. It’s hard to compare a carnival in Venice with a carnival in Rio. For most people today, carnival is just a way to leave the daily routine, but the cultural motivations are the same: we all want to be free of our own corsets every once in a while, but, shouldn’t we actually be more balanced in our lives and integrate our needs in a way that makes us feel complete, to the extent each of us can, in  every day of our lives?

Fraquoh and Franchomme

P.S. We want to hear from you! Do you celebrate carnival? What do you like to dress up as? Why do you like/dislike it? Share your thoughts in the comments below and have your say!