Carnivalesque Grotesque as a Mode of Subversion: A Bakhtinian Study of Elif Shafak’s The Architect’s Apprentice

Elif Shafak’s The Architect’s Apprentice (2014) transcends a mere narrative, transforming into a potential critique of power structures. This study explores how Shafak’s novel subverts the established regime and questions the power politics that exploit the fate of marginalized sections of society. It explores how grotesque imagery and subversive tactics are used to create a destabilized and de-hierarchized world in which the privileged are decentered, binary distinctions are broken and blurred, patriarchy is overturned, and authorities are overthrown. Grotesque realism is a strategy for reversing the old order by regenerating decayed values and acts as a means of dissent against the marginalization of the downtrodden. The taboos are mocked, power is stripped of its exploitative guise, and authority is subverted through the presentation of the grotesque, allowing a rebellion against the oppression and exploitation of the authoritative forces. The author empowers the marginalized by stripping the power of its false glory and unveiling its exploitative nature through the grotesque. Bakhtin’s concept of carnivalesque has been used as a lens to expose the oppression of the marginalized at the hands of rulers. By being subversive, we argue that The Architect’s Apprentice (2014) challenges stereotypical social, political, and religious norms and is directly aligned with the spirit of carnivalesque.