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Module 4 Carnival The Magic of the Mask Think of carnival, and you think of crowds, costumes, and confusion. The sounds and sights change from one country to another but the excitement is the same everywhere. “Carnival” comes from two Latin words, meaning “no more meat”. In Europe, where it began, carnival was followed by forty days without meat, as people prepared for the Christian festival of Easter. People saw Carnival as a last chance to have fun at the end of the winter season. Having fun meant eating, drinking, and dressing up. The most famous carnival in Europe was in Venice. At the beginning, it lasted for just one day. People ate, drank, and wore masks. As time passed, however, the carnival period was extended, so that it began just after Christmas. For weeks on end people walked round the streets wearing masks, doing what they wanted without being recognised. Ordinary people could pretend to be rich and important, while famous people could have romantic adventures in secret. Many crimes went unpunished. The government realised that wearing masks had become a problem. Their use was limited by laws, the first of which dates back to the fourteenth century. Men were not allowed to wear masks at night; and they were not allowed to dress up as women. In later times more laws were passed. People who wore masks could not carry firearms; and no one could enter a church wearing a mask. If they broke the laws, they were put into prison for up to two years. Finally, when Venice became part of the Austrian empire, at the end of the eighteenth century, masks were banned completely, and carnival became just a memory. But in the late 1970s the tradition was revived by students. They began making masks and organising parties, and threw bits of brightly coloured paper (called coriandoli) at tourists. The town council realised that carnival was good for business, and the festival was developed for tourists. Today, carnival in Venice is celebrated for five days in February. People arrive from all over Europe to enjoy the fun. Hotels are fully booked and the narrow streets are crowded with wonderful costumes. German, French and English seem to be the main languages. But the spirit of Venice carnival is not quite the same as the great American carnivals. If the key to Rio is music and movement, then in Venice it is the mystery of the mask. As you wander through the streets, you see thousands of masks—elegant or frightening, sad or amusing, traditional or modern-- but you have no idea what the faces behind them look like. Nobody takes them off. If the masks come off, the magic is lost. Module 4 Carnival The magic of the mask 想到狂欢节你就会想到群众、服装和混乱。随着国家的变化听到的和看到的都是不同的，但是任何地方人们都是兴奋的。 “狂欢节”是由俩个拉丁词演变而来的，它的意思是“不要吃肉”。欧洲是狂欢节的发源地，在接近狂欢节的四十天里是不能吃肉的，人们准备迎接基督教的“复活节’。人们把狂欢节做为冬天结束前最后的一个玩乐机会，尽情的吃喝玩了、打扮。 欧洲最著名的狂欢节是在威尼斯。刚开始的时候，狂欢节只持续了一天。人们会吃喝玩乐并且会带上面具。随着时间的推移，狂欢节的时间被延长了，所以狂欢节在圣诞节过后就开始了。连续几个星期人们都会戴着面具在大街上四处走动，做他们想做的任何事并且不会被人们认出来。普通人可以装扮成富有人和重要人物，然而有名的人可以密密的有一个浪漫的奇遇。许多罪犯都不会被惩罚。 政府意识到了戴面具成了一个问题了。面具的使用受到了法律的限制最早出现在十四世纪。男人不允许在夜晚戴面具并且不被允许装扮成女性。在那以后有更多的法律出现了。戴面具的人不可以携带火器也不可以进入教堂。如果他们打破了这条法律，他们就会被关到监狱里长达两年的。最后，在十八世纪末的时候当威尼斯成为奥地利帝国的一部分时，面具彻底被禁止了，狂欢节只是变成了一个记忆。 但是在二十世纪七十年代后期，这个传统又被学生恢复了。他们开始制造面具组织集会并且向游人抛撒小块彩色纸片。这个小镇议会认识到狂欢节有益于商业并且这个节日吸引了游客。 今天，威尼斯的狂欢节会在二月开始持续五天。来自欧洲各地的人们都会来着尽情的享受狂欢节的乐趣。旅店被订满狭窄的街道被穿着美丽服饰的人所积满。德语、法语、英语似乎成了主要语言。但是威尼斯狂欢节和美国的狂欢节是有很大不同的。如果里约热内卢主要的是音乐和游行，而在威尼斯则是神秘的面具。当你走在街上时你会看到成千上万的面具----精美的、令人恐惧的、悲伤的、有趣的、传统的、现代的，但是你却不知道面具之后的脸你却不知道。没有人把面具摘下，如果面具摘掉了的话，魔力就消失了。 The Meaning of Carnival Carnival today is an international, multicultural experience. But how did it become so? To understand what carnival is all about, we need to look at the history of America and the meeting of two cultures – European and African. The arrival of Europeans in America, and the opening of huge farms and plantations to grow cotton, fruit and vegetables, meant there was an immediate need for people to work on them. This marked the beginning of the slave trade. For more than two hundred years, until the beginning of the 19th century, when the trade was finally stopped, millions of people were taken by force from their homes in Africa and transported to the New World to work as slaves. Six million were taken to the Caribbean islands where there were British and French landowners. Naturally, the Europeans also imported their own festivals. So the slaves were forced to watch as their masters celebrated carnival with food, drink, and masked dances. In Trinidad, the slaves began to hold their own carnival celebrations: they painted their faces white, imitating their masters and making fun of them. But at the same time they were continuing their own African traditions – such as walking round a village wearing masks and singing a custom which they thought would bring good luck. When the slave trade was abolished in 1838 the former slaves took over the carnival. It became more colourful and more exciting than it had been before. Magnificent costumes were made and musical bands created. Carnival became a celebration of freedom. With the passing of time, the white inhabitants of the island began to take part in the carnival, too – and they were welcomed by their former slaves. Carnival became a way to unite different communities, as people forgot their everyday problems and enjoyed themselves eating, drinking, and dancing. Today, visitors from all over the world come to this small state in the Caribbean to join in the fun. Carnival has become a celebration of life itself. |
