Customer Reviews

Carnival in Romans

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Leroy Ladurie takes a de constructionist look at the erosion of the tax base in pre revolutionary France, and the political impacts of maintaining a large privileged elite exempt from tax, increasing the fiscal burden to be paid by the proportionly ever smaller tax paying classes. Ultimately, this led to the fall of the throne, but this book explores the pre revolutionary era prior to the revolution when the Mardi Gras festivities provided a satirical opportunity for the oppressed lower social orders to express their dissatisfaction. The form of the Mardi Gras itself is itself the basis of the contemporary narrative structure of the British pantomime - chaotic but formal role changing, reversal, and cross dressing.

The explosion of unrest at the growth of the privileged elite enjoying exemption from tax, and the consequent increase of the tax burden on lower and middle social classes, may also have an allegory to the current New World Order scenerio of corporate privilege, and the contemporary demands for economic reform in the West.

This book puts the panto into tax theory - and should be read by those interested in satire, slapstick, tax theory, and social activists alike.