OVERVIEW: The Carnival in Rio De Janeiro is one of the best-known parties in the world and is considered the largest carnival in the world. Rio Carnival is a five day celebration and a national holiday.

An Overview of Mardi Gras in New Orleans

New Orleans Mardi Gras, a local Carnival tradition, has been celebrated since before the Louisiana Purchase, when New Orleans was under French control, and then Spanish control, until its incorporation into the United States. Celebrations are concentrated for two weeks until Ash Wednesday and include events such as parades, masquerade balls, dancing, and other social gatherings. In her book, Lives of the Saints, Nancy Lemann evokes a strong imagery of the parade: “inexpressibly gaudy and beautiful as it passes along, bidding farewell to the flesh. There are always drumbeats haunting the parade, and flambeaux and harlequins in satin and silk.” Mardi Gras is a fascinating and enduring performance tradition as it provokes thought about colonization, racial inequality, historical progress, and the importance of ritual.

The Emergence of Mardi Gras 

The tradition of Mardi Gras was brought to North America by French colonists during the 18th century. Upon their arrival French-Canadian explorer, Jean Baptiste le Moyne Sieur de Bienville, named their settlement Point du Mardi Gras (located about 60 miles south of present-day New Orleans) when he realized it was the eve of French festivities. However, Mardi Gras’ origins are thought to predate the French. It’s believed that the carnival tradition has roots in ancient Roman rituals of fertility that embraced the arrival of spring. Early Church leaders realized the impossibility of detaching new converts from their pagan traditions, so some were restructured for Christian purpose. Thus celebrations and feasting, rooted in the Roman festivals of Saturnalia and Lupercalia, developed as the last hurrah before the repentance season of Lent. In France, the tradition became known as “Boeuf Gras,” which translates to “fatted calf.”

During the 1700’s, the region was a French colony. In 1703, a small settlement called “Forte de Louis de la Louisiane” (present-day Mobile) initiated the first pre-Lent celebration. A secret society was formed along with the masquerades; thus the tradition of “krewes” originated in Mobile. Bienville established the city of New Orleans in 1718 and by the 1730’s, pre-Lenten masked balls and elegant fetes thrived. The earliest report of a Mardi Gras carnival, like the parades we are familiar with today, was in 1781. Mobile natives formed the first secret society, the Mistick Krewe of Comus, invoking John Milton’s character inspired by the god of revelry. This society established the prevalent theme of disguise, magic and mystery within the Carnival. When the territory came under Spanish rule, the celebration period was banned, and the ban continued into the establishment of New Orleans as an American city in 1803.

However during the early 19th century, Mardi Gras re-emerged as a prominent public celebration, consisting of maskers in elaborate carriages, on horseback, or on foot. New Orleans had experienced an influx of refugees from the island of Saint Domingue (now Haiti) due to the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804). This influx essentially doubled the city’s population, and strengthened French influence. The first organized Mardi Gras parade was the Comus pageant of 1857. Secret organizations began to form around the tradition, with parade groups called “krewes.” These secret societies gave themselves mythological names and often established a theme for their parade float, costume, and mask. The visit of Russian Grand Duke Alexis Romanoff in 1872 inspired the symbolic character of Rex – the King of Carnival. The development of the character Rex established the official colors, purple, gold, and green, and the anthem, “If Ever I Cease to Love,” of Mardi Gras. In 1875, Mardi Gras became a legal holiday in Louisiana. 

Performance Elements 

The Masks:

The tradition originates from the French celebration of masquerade balls. New Orleans is a city where the customs of Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and the New World coalesced. Masked faces derives from the desire to transcend identity, escape class status, racial barriers, and other social restrictions. The city of New Orleans has a distinct and peculiar history, in which various backgrounds converged. Because of its rich and enduring French and Creole influence, and its function as a portal to the slave trade, the living patterns of New Orleans life developed very differently from other American cities. Not to be overlooked, the Creole social hierarchy was structured by racial superiority. Thus while Africans, both slaves and freemen, and European settlers comprised of the city, there was a haunting sense of oppression. Masks allow for a period of uninhibited intermingling – in fact, masks have been made into a requirement for float-riders.

The Flambeaux:

“Flambeaux” derives from the French word for flame, “flambe.” The tradition pre-dates electricity, as flame torches were needed to continue festivities into the night. During the early period of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, torch carriers were mostly slaves or freemen of color. This tradition sheds light on one of the many symbols of the human inequalities that Mardi Gras has endured through time.  The function of torches grew from merely practical use to a spectacle, as carriers twirled and waved the torches while they marched and danced. While this tradition reflects the power structures manifested in a post-colonial society, it has also blossomed into an integral art form of the celebration. 

The Tossing of Beads:

Purple, gold, and green are representative of Mardi Gras. Their association to the carnival was established when the Russian Grand Duke Alexis Romanoff visited in 1872.  The royal family inspired the selection of colors – purple is thought to stand for justice; gold for power; and green for faith. The act of tossing the purple, gold, and green beaded necklaces was meant to communicate that someone thought you worthy of their meaning.

The Zulu Krewe:

The Zulu Krewe is the oldest traditionally black organization in Mardi Gras. The history of the group and their development over time carries great significance beyond fictional performance. The first signs of organization came from men that belonged to a Benevolent Aid Society. The Benevolent Societies were the earliest forms of insurance in black communities. Since the 1780’s, the system was formed to help slaves and freemen cope financially during sickness or death of family members. Benevolent societies not only provided important economic function for marginalized black communities, but also fostered a sense of community. The name and theme of the Zulu Krewe came together after some members of a black social group, called the Tramps, saw a musical comedy show that performed a skit set in Africa. Zulu warriors, a part of a large ethnic group in South Africa, were portrayed in the skit and had evidently made a profound impression on the club, as the Tramps then reorganized under the name of Zulu.

The first appearance of Zulus in Mardi Gras was 1909. The group donned ragged clothing and the King was crowned with a “lard can” and used a banana stalk as a scepter. The King was accompanied by four “dukes” and a Jubilee-singing quartet. The Zulu Krewe was incorporated in 1916 when they obtained a float, and members marched in grass skirts and black face along a float of moss and palmetto leaves. Upon his on-site assignment in 2009, New York Times reporter, Wayne Curtis, gathered that, “New Orleanians often say that the early Zulus were sending up the white carnival — and that their outfits were designed to mock preconceptions whites had of blacks through a sort of sly stereotype jujitsu.” The painted black face highlights a certain irony – it makes revelers confront the fact that this is a performance with multiple layers of impersonation. There is a clear element of imitation and acknowledgement of racial exaggeration created by white power structures. The mis-en-scene of the Zulu parade is certainly controversial, but also authentic and historical. Charles Chamberlain, a Louisiana State Museum historian, says that the Zulu costume and design is “part of vaudeville and the carnival tradition.” During the civil rights movement in the 1960’s, being a member of the Zulu Krewe was highly criticized and caused a rift within the black communities of New Orleans. The Zulu Krewe explains on their website that their performance was especially contentious during this period because it was thought to dredge up the anti-black caricature and was plainly an embarrassing anachronism. Their explanation reads, “Dressing in a grass skirt and donning a black face were seen as being demeaning.  Large numbers of black organizations protested against the Zulu organization, and its membership dwindled to approximately 16 men.” While the organization was rebuked for their stereotypical costumes, they were also subjected to segregation. Before 1968, the Zulu parade was not permitted on the main streets of Mardi Gras. Instead, the Zulus performed on the back streets of traditionally black neighborhoods. The Zulu Krewe’s performance and costume was not created for white audience. Thus the tradition of the Zulu Krewe has survived and reflected periods of intense adversity from different directions in society. Performance, in this case, seems inherently political. In fact, the theme of the 2017 Zulu Krewe parade was “Stop the Violence,” which alludes to the Black Lives Matter movement. The Zulu Krewe conveys the fact that while Mardi Gras is rooted in fiction and recreation, it also reflects social constructions of reality and even causes societal disruption.  This aspect of Mardi Gras conveys the diverse environment and unique, albeit mystifying, mindset of New Orleans.   

Mardi Gras in a Post-Hurricane Katrina Landscape

The Gulf of Mexico and geography of New Orleans is naturally vulnerable to disaster. On August 2005, Hurricane Katrina ripped through the bowl-shaped region and marked itself as one of the most deadly and costly hurricanes in United States history. The Category 3 hurricane destroyed over 100,000 homes, killed almost 2,000 people, and caused an estimated $100 billion in damage to the New Orleans region. In addition to taking a toll on the city’s economics and labor market, the storm had a notable effect on the city’s human, social and psychological construct. In his epigraph on the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina, Steven Levitt wrote, “Hurricane Katrina revealed as much about American society and the inextricable link between race, class, gender and age in our nation as it did about nature’s fury.” The tragic event of Katrina forced citizens of New Orleans to confront their own history and understand how tragedies such as Katrina can have serious consequences on modern human relations and quality of life.

For over 150 years, Mardi Gras has not only symbolized a ceremonial power, but has been an essential outlet for unpacking local anxieties, political strives, and class conflicts. Through the playful and good-spirited elements of performance, Mardi Gras is an opportunity for citizens of New Orleans to cope with the harsher sides of the city’s reality: chronic poverty, economic stagnation, and underlying political corruption. For these reasons, after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans needed Mardi Gras more than ever. The tradition was used as a time for reflection, realization and ultimately reunion of the city as a whole. In an interview with NPR Radio, New Orleans citizen, Michael Depp, reflected, “We can’t fully make sense of what has happened to us until we bring it into the public sphere of our parades.”

Hurricane Katrina may have temporarily washed New Orleans’ physical landscape, but the vitality of the city continued to build itself 2006 onwards. The question of whether 2006 would hold Mardi Gras after Hurricane Katrina was not necessarily in the hands of the government, media or business leaders as Carnival remained a folk festival defined by the local individuals and groups who celebrated the holiday. Regardless, the city’s essentially bankrupt economy relied too heavily on the Mardi Gras celebrations, so the city government pushed for a scaled back celebration for the year of 2006. The 2006 New Orleans Mardi Gras schedule included the Krewe du Vieux on its traditional route through the French Quarter and several parades for the weeks leading up to the Sunday of Mardi Gras. Due to the severe flood damage suffered by specific neighborhoods, some parades were unable to push through their traditional routes and other floats partially submerged in floodwaters for weeks. While most of the locals who worked and rode on the floats were significantly impacted by the hurricane’s destruction, commitment and passion to celebrate the holiday was more intense than ever. However, the themes of many of the costumes and floats were more gloomy and spiteful than usual, incorporating references to the anxieties and afflictions citizens living in the devastated city were feeling post-Katrina.  

President of the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation, Mark Romig, spoke to TIME Magazine, “People thought that there was no way the city would be able to embrace its culture and tradition after Katrina, but Mardi Gras proved to the country that [New Orleans] would come back.” However, Mardi Gras was the perfect remedy to the chaos and catastrophe the residents of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama had endured as a result of Katrina. Post-Katrina, Carnival became a cultural and psychological survival mechanism for almost all New Orleanians: black and white, rich and poor, and the city as a whole. The city held a stronger emphasis on the shared experience for the culturally diverse city of New Orleans. In his reflection on Mardi Gras post-Katrina for The Washington Post, Ken Ringle wrote that Mardi Gras was “a giant municipal block party in which each neighborhood, age and ethnic group shares with its particular coping mechanism and deeply rooted tradition.” Ringle continued that, “Mardi Gras is about more than just a day or even a season. It’s about a way of life known as New Orleans.”

The destruction and societal repercussions were devastating, but the tradition of Mardi Gras demonstrated the tough resolve and resilience of New Orleans citizens. Modern day Mardi Gras is a tradition that draws upon the origins that were brought over by the European colonizers, but also has experienced new developments that has guided the celebration in a new direction. Post Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Mardi Gras experienced major transformations that evolved Mardi Gras from its onset in the early 1700’s to what it is today. Mardi Gras 2006 hardly meant forgetting Katrina. Instead, it became a way to memorialize Katrina. Carnival 2006 onwards spoke for the people who had suffered Katrina and its aftermath; it was a way for citizens to talk about Katrina to each other and the rest of the world and say, we are still here.

Concluding Thoughts

The celebration of Mardi Gras has functioned as an outlet for indulging and distracting. The imperative for holding Mardi Gras every year is that the celebration reconnects the community through its antique cultural and psychological mechanisms. The tradition of Mardi Gras is exemplary of a performance that is immersed and molded by environmental and societal changes over time.

 

References

Becknelle, Clarence, Thomas Price, and Don Short. “History Of the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club.” Zulu Social & Pleasure Club. Mardi Gras New Orleans, 2013. Web. <http://www.kreweofzulu.com/history>.

Curtis, Wayne. “Zulu Krewe at 100: Still Marching to Its Own Beat.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 12 Feb. 2009. Web. <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/travel/escapes/13Zulu.html>

Depp, Michael. “Mardi Gras Needed for New Orleans’ Mental Health.” NPR. National Public Radio, 06 Jan. 2006. Web. <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5133453>.

Dolfman, Michael, Bruce Bergman, and Solidelle Wasser. “The Effects of Hurricane Katrina on the New Orleans Economy.” (2016): n. pag. The Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, June 2007. Web. <https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2007/06/art1full.pdf>.

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Jenkins, Aric. “Mardi Gras 2017: How New Orleans Became the Center of It All.” Time. Time, 27 Feb. 2017. Web. <http://time.com/4682075/new-orleans-mardi-gras-history/>.

Jeremy I. Levitt and Matthew C. Whitaker. Hurricane Katrina : America’s Unnatural Disaster. Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, 2009. Print.

Levitt, Steven, Laura Kawano, and Tatyana Deryugina. “The Economic Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Its Victims.” National Bureau of Economic Research. National Bureau of Economic Research, Nov. 2013. Web.

Mitchell, Reid. “Carnival and Katrina”. The Journal of American History. Vol. 94, No. 3 (Dec, 2007), pp. 789-794.

“Mardi Gras History.” Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Mardi Gras New Orleans, 1996. Web. <http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/history.html>.

“New Orleans Mardi Gras.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 9 Mar. 2017. Web. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Orleans_Mardi_Gras>.

Ringle, Ken. “Mardi Gras After Katrina: Laughing In the Face of Fate.” The Washington Post. WP Company, 27 Feb. 2006. Web. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/26/AR2006022601295.html>.

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