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    Gargantua and Pantagruel by Francois Rabelais

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    Jefferson Hamlin
    Gargantua and Pantagruel is a series of novels written in the 16th century by Francois Rabelais that follow the adventures of the giant Gargantua and his son Pantagruel. Mikhail Bakhtin analyzed Rabelais' work and argued that it incorporated elements of folk culture through ritual spectacles, comic verbal compositions, and various genres of billingsgate. The novels satirized social and religious conventions of Renaissance France through crude humor and language.

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    Gargantua and Pantagruel by Francois Rabelais

    Uploaded by

    Jefferson Hamlin
    134 views26 pages
    Gargantua and Pantagruel is a series of novels written in the 16th century by Francois Rabelais that follow the adventures of the giant Gargantua and his son Pantagruel. Mikhail Bakhtin analyzed Rabelais' work and argued that it incorporated elements of folk culture through ritual spectacles, comic verbal compositions, and various genres of billingsgate. The novels satirized social and religious conventions of Renaissance France through crude humor and language.

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    Gargantua and Pantagruel by Francois Rabelais, with analysis.

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    Gargantua and Pantagruel is a series of novels written in the 16th century by Francois Rabelais that follow the adventures of the giant Gargantua and his son Pantagruel. Mikhail Bakhtin analyzed Rabelais' work and argued that it incorporated elements of folk culture through ritual spectacles, comic verbal compositions, and various genres of billingsgate. The novels satirized social and religious conventions of Renaissance France through crude humor and language.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    134 views26 pages

    Gargantua and Pantagruel by Francois Rabelais

    Uploaded by

    Jefferson Hamlin
    Gargantua and Pantagruel is a series of novels written in the 16th century by Francois Rabelais that follow the adventures of the giant Gargantua and his son Pantagruel. Mikhail Bakhtin analyzed Rabelais' work and argued that it incorporated elements of folk culture through ritual spectacles, comic verbal compositions, and various genres of billingsgate. The novels satirized social and religious conventions of Renaissance France through crude humor and language.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 26

    Gargantua and

    Pantagruel by Francois
    Rabelais
    With Analysis by Bahktin
    Kevin Candelora
    Katie Wismer
    Zoe Rafferty
    Justine Ifkovits
    Megan Desjardins
    YaaAsantewaa Faraji
    Julie Chidester
    Bryanna Evans
    Matthew Harkenreader
    Sully Holt
    Matthew Beattie
    Francois Rabelais
    ● Lived in France for most of his life
    ● not much is known about his childhood
    ● was a major French Renaissance writer,
    physician, monk, and greek scholar.
    ● When he was younger he went to the
    Fontenay-le-Comte Fair and it inspired him
    to write Gargantua.
    Background Knowledge of the Novel
    ● Gargantua and Pantagruel are collections of 5 novels written in the 16th
    century
    ● 1st book: describes their education
    ● 2nd book: relates to the early life of Gargantua
    ● 3rd, 4th and 5th: follow Gargantua's life adventures
    ● The text has a lot of features of crudity, violence and risque humor.
    ● Rabelais studied Ancient Greek and applied it in his novels to invent
    hundreds of new words for his text.
    ● Some of which became part of the French language.
    ● The full modern title for the book series is " The Horrible and Terrifying
    Deeds and Words of the Very Renowned Pantagruel King of the Dipsodes,
    Son of the Great Giant Gargantua"
    ● First book was published in 1567
    ● His second book was actually published first in 1532 under the pen name
    "Alcofribas Nasier"
    Key Summary Points

    It begins when Grangosier marries Gargamelle the daughter to the


    King of the Butterflies and are blessed with a child soon after.
    During the eleventh month of her pregnancy, Gargamelle ate too
    many tripes which were not considered to be healthy meat for someone
    expecting.
    Inconveniently, Gargantua was born from his mother’s left ear. He
    cried like no other babies cried, “Some drink, some drink, some drink” as
    a way of inviting the world to drink with him.
    Gargantua was considered a "prodigy" and he received his name
    because it was the first word that after his birth his father had spoken.
    Key Points Continued...

    He had to be supplied with milk from 7,913 cows and it was


    impossible to find a nurse sufficient enough for him in all the country.
    He was dressed in white and blue in hopes to be understood as a
    positively celestial joy. White=joy, pleasure, delight, and rejoicing. Blue =
    heavenly.
    Gargantua’s childhood was full of obnoxious actions such as pissing in
    his shoes, feeling up his nurses and drank out of his slipper.
    At the end of Garganuta’s fifth year he talked with his father about
    how he was the cleanest boy in the whole country because he found out a
    means to "wipe his own bum."
    Incongruity Theory
    Chapter 3
    ● Chapter 3's name "How Gargantua was
    carried in his mother's belly for 11 months"
    ● Gargmelle is described as a jolly pug and a
    well-mouth wench
    Chapter 4
    ● When Gargmelle was pregnant she ate lots
    of tripe.
    ○ tripe is organs from different animals
    ○ she ate 16 quarters, 2 bushels, 3 pecks, and a
    pipkin full of tripe
    Incongruity Theory cont.
    Chapter 6
    ● When Gargmelle gave birth to Gargantua
    instead of crying like a normal baby he
    shouted "Some drink, some drink, some
    drink!"
    ○ Gargantua was repeating what Grandousier was
    saying
    Chapter 7
    ● The baby was so thirsty that no nurse could
    ever satisfy him. he had 7913 cows produce
    milk for him
    Incongruity Theory cont.
    Chapter 7
    ● Gargantua cried very little but "beshit
    himself every hour"
    Chapter 8
    ● Gargantua's clothes were huge taking
    hundred's of yards of fabric to use.
    Chapter 9
    ● A proverb said "A dirty asshole always has a
    good supply of shit."
    Last Incongruity slide I promise!
    Chapter 21
    ● Powerbrain said that Gargantua didn't
    exercise so he didn't need to drink that
    much Gargantua replied, "What! have I not
    sufficiently exercised myself? I have
    wallowed and rolled myself six or seven
    times in my bed before I rose. Is that not
    enough?
    Relief Theory: Rabelais
    ● Relief Theory states that humor serves to
    facilitate release from the tension caused
    by one's fears.
    ● Chapter 6 - Gargantua born out of
    Gargmelle's ear ---> a caesarean section
    doesn't seem so bad
    ● Chapter 21 - Powerbrain comments on
    Gargantua's lack of exercise and drinking
    habits ---> obesity is serious by Gargantua
    plays it off as a joke
    Superiority Theory
    ● Chp. 6: Gargamelle has a really awful
    pregnancy
    ○ Her young child climbs out through her left ear
    ○ Her husband leaves her alone to continue drinking
    ○ From his first words, "some drink, some drink, some
    drink," Gargantua was born to be an alcoholic
    ● Chp. 9: Narrator blasts the author of All
    about Colors
    ○ He wants to give the author "credit for his
    arrogance and stupidity"
    ○ Makes us feel superior to the people who bought
    the book as well
    Superiority Theory: Continued
    ● Chp. 11: Gargantua is an idiot
    ○ He hides "himself in the water for fear of rain"
    ○ Pisses in his own shoes and shits in his own shirt
    ○ Feel superior because we don't have to raise such
    an obnoxious child
    ● Chp. 13: Gargantua likes to wipe his ass
    with various animals
    ○ Wipes his ass with a cat and gets scratched
    ● In conclusion: Feeling superior to something
    is much better if it is with your own
    species. Feeling superior to a giant really
    isn't saying much.
    iClicker Summary Question

    How many months was Gargantua


    carried in his mother's belly?
    a.) 2 years
    b.) 11 months
    c.) 5 months
    d.) 1 day
    iClicker Summary Questions
    What was Gargantua dressed in?
    a.) A purse made of elephant testicle
    b.) blue/crimson -velvet shoes
    c.) white velvet bonnet/cap
    d.)golden chain on his neck
    e.) all of the above
    iClicker Summary Question
    What was Gurgantua saying as he was being
    born?
    a.) "Love, love, love !"
    b.) "Give me my mothers milk"
    c.) “Some drink, some drink, some drink”
    d.) "Let it be known, I am here"
    iClicker Question
    Did you think it was funny?
    a.) I was hysterically laughing
    b.) I chuckled
    c.) It was not funny
    d.) I fell asleep reading it
    Mikhail Bakhtin
    November 17, 1895 – March 7,1975

    ● Russian philosopher and literary scholar


    ● Attended Petersburg University until 1918
    ● 1923 – Diagnosed with osteomyelitis
    ● Sentenced to six years of ‘internal exile’ in Kazakhstan
    ● 1940 – Lived in Moscow
    ● Later denied a doctorate by the State Accrediting
    Bureau
    ● 1957- Became head of the Department of Russian and
    World Literature at the Mordovian Pedagogical
    Institute before he retired in 1961
    Bakhtin's Analysis of Rabelais
    Summarized
    -Strongly believes that Rabelais's book has
    been misunderstood for years
    -Says that there are manifestations of this folk
    culture that can be divided into three distinct
    forms
    1. Ritual Spectacles
    2. Comic Verbal Compositions
    3. Various genres of billingsgate
    Bakhtin's Analysis of Rabelais
    Summarized Continued
    - Talks a lot about the openness of the book
    (for example: sex and cursing)
    -Analysis of the social system of the
    Renaissance era to discover the balance
    between the language that was and was not
    allowed
    -Study of the interaction between the social
    and the literary
    Does where he wrote matter?
    -Yes
    -Bakhtin wrote this analysis in Soviet Russia
    -Wanted to portray the horror in the life under
    Stalin ruling
    -He was also active in the aesthetics and
    literature in the Soviet Union
    -His writing is definitely affected by his
    bringing up as a child and his home as an adult
    Historical Context of Bakhtin's
    Analysis
    ● Rabelais - Renaissance (post Middle Ages)
    ○ "rebirth" and discovery
    ○ Gagantua and Pantagruel (1532-1552)

    ● Comedy during this time period


    ○ Satire - what is wrong with society
    ■ Criticism

    ● Social System
    ○ Humanism - human experience
    Historical Context of "Gargantua and
    Pantagruel"
    ● Satirical response to the religious oppression present
    during the 16th century during the Protestant
    Reformation.
    ● Rabelais’ works were condemned.
    ● Displayed the dissonance between French humanists
    and their struggle to deal with their constant
    ostracized state.
    ● Alludes to the mass murdering of Huguenots in France
    ● Parallel in Gargantua, a conservative man is ridiculed
    and compared to the ideals that of King Francis I who
    Rabelais supported.
    Historical Context of "Gargantua and
    Pantagruel" (cont'd)
    ● French did not become the official language of France
    until, 1539.
    ● Rabelais, beginning in 1532 when "Pantagruel" was
    published, incorporated Greek words that he created
    in his piece that later became integrated into the
    French language.
    ● Duality between religious reformation and intellectual
    reformation present in 16th century France.
    ● New humanistic thinking due to the Scientific Rev. and
    Protestant Reformation.
    ● Rabelais suggests a new way of learning that
    supplements the new renaissance way of thinking.
    Modern Relation to Gargantua
    Mars Attacks! (1996)
    ● Rabelais used Gargantua and Pantagruel
    to mock superstitions of the times.
    ● Bakhtin relates parodies to being
    "debasing" or "degrading."
    ● The film Mars Attacks! shows both of
    these traits:
    ○ Pokes fun at modern superstitions of alien
    invasions.
    ○ Degrades the superstition through the aliens'
    downfall.
    Modern Relation to Gargantua
    (cont.)
    Mars Attacks! Trailer:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC5O9NFWZCs

    And Clip:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MhgnMX73Pw
    Works Cited
    http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/225961/Gargantua-and-Pantagruel

    http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/Anthro/Anth206/mikhail_bakhtin.htm

    http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/nael/middleages/topic_1/satire.htm

    http://www.virtualsalt.com/satire.htm

    http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/humanism.html

    http://history-world.org/renaissance.htm

    http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/rabela.htm
    http://itech.fgcu.edu/&/issues/vol2/issue2/rabelais.htm
    http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/49580/Mikhail-Bakhtin

    -Mikhail Bakhtin." - New World Encyclopedia. N.p., 29 Aug. 2008. Web. 24 Oct. 2012. <http://www.
    newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Mikhail_Bakhtin>.

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