Grotesque body and carnivalization in the myth of the pregnant man: El parto de Juan Rana according to bakhtinian perspectives

Abstract

The main purpose of this study aims at demonstrating that Lanini y Sagredo’s El parto de Juan Rana adjusts itself to the theories Bakhtin expresses in the essay Rabelais and his world. Besides, the presence in this short comic piece of a man who is pregnant gives reason for doing an excursus on occidental and oriental mythology and folklore, by providing some examples of religious beliefs and myths related to this motif. Furthermore, Spanish Baroque literature will be taken into account, by analysing the different connotations scholars give to the concept of ‘masculine birth’. In addition, an anonymous romance, related to Hernando de la Haba’s story about a monstrous childbirth, will be examined as a possible source for Lanini y Sagredo’s work. The last part of this study deals with the analysis of some fragments of the entremés according to the bakhtinian perspective of grotesque body and carnivalization to demonstrate narrative dynamics of this short piece perfectly adapt themselves to Bakhtin’s interpretation.