Lester Dowdy's Carnival

In this manuscript, I attempt to reveal what Don DeLillo has called "the world inside the world." The manuscript's title and structure explore the dichotomy between a thing's interior and its exterior. A carnival, on its surface, is a collection of amusements: rides, games, barkers, cotton candy, and the like. However, as the title poem suggests, the word carnival also represents a time for celebration, general merry-making, and, in its most archaic sense, the liturgical season just before Lent. Thus, one can view a carnival as an amusement, or as a prelude to sacrifice and penance, or as a time to embark on a reflective interior journey. Lester Dowdy 's Carnival charts the three main stages of just such a journey. The first section, entitled "Attractions," looks at the world from "I" perspective, a perspective which focuses on the body, sexual desire, and personal subjects. Midway," the second section, serves as a bridge between a perspective dominated by the self and a perspective dominated by the other. This middle point is a place to experiment with various forms and products of seeing, and the last section ("Concessions") demonstrates the necessity of examining the world with a multitude of lenses. Taken as a whole, the manuscript considers questions of origin, growth, apprehension, bodily and spiritual desire, loss, articulation, the gap between vision and reality, and order. It is my hope that this manuscript mirrors the human impulse to turn inward for the knowledge we so desperately crave and need.