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Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras. New Orleans's annual pre‐Lenten celebration of Mardi Gras (“Fat Tuesday”), or Carnival, long a ritual of both civic self‐definition and cultural conflict, owes its origins to the region's French, Spanish, and Afro‐Caribbean population. The celebration begins on January 6 and culminates on Mardi Gras day, Shrove Tuesday. Although informal parades and festive masquerades date to the early nineteenth century, the modern Mardi Gras—with its themed parades, costumed maskers, and elaborate balls—began in 1857 with the establishment of the city's first exclusive Carnival organization, the “Mystick Krewe of Comus.” Other all‐white “krewes” like Rex, Momus, and Proteus soon arose and quickly became social networks for the city's Anglo and Creole (French or Spanish) elites.
In 1909 members of New Orleans's black middle class created the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club as a sly critique of white stereotypes of African Americans as “savages,” and as a protest against the city's harsh Jim Crow culture. The “Zulu” parade mocked the ruling white social order as paraders donned blackface and grass skirts and threw rubber spears and highly prized decorated coconuts; eventually this parade became one of the city's most important. Black working‐class people also asserted group pride by subverting white hegemony: Beginning in the 1880s, away from the center city, the black “Mardi Gras Indians” masqueraded in highly stylized Plains Indians costumes that played upon white stereotypes of both Indians and African Americans. By the late 1990s more than seventy krewes paraded in the two weeks leading up to and including Mardi Gras day. Some used central city routes while many more preferred suburban neighborhoods. In the wake of a proposed 1991 ordinance to desegregate the exclusive Carnival organizations, several of the elite old‐line krewes chose to stop parading. Their disappearance, combined with New Orleans's growing tourism‐based economy focused more attention on newer, nonexclusive superkrewes, like Bacchus and Orpheus, whose parades featured flamboyant floats and abundant Carnival beads. See also Segregation, Racial. Bibliography Samuel Kinser , Carnival, American Style: Mardi Gras at New Orleans and Mobile, 1990. Steven Hoelscher |
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Paul S. Boyer. "Mardi Gras." The Oxford Companion to United States History. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. Paul S. Boyer. "Mardi Gras." The Oxford Companion to United States History. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O119-MardiGras.html Paul S. Boyer. "Mardi Gras." The Oxford Companion to United States History. 2001. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O119-MardiGras.html |
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Mardi Gras
MARDI GRASMARDI GRAS is the elaborate series of outdoor pageants and indoor tableau balls held annually during the winter social season in the United States, especially in New Orleans and Mobile. The carnival culminates on Fat or Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Rooted in European pre-Lenten revelries, the carnival tradition in the United States began in the colonial period and developed in tandem with racial policies and practices and survives as an extravagant spectacle of excess, decadence, and burlesque. The pageants, each sponsored by one of the many exclusive carnival organizations, are based upon themes drawn from mythology, history, or fiction and are often satiric of contemporary social issues. BIBLIOGRAPHYKinser, Samuel. Carnival, American Style: Mardi Gras at New Orleans and Mobile. Photographs by Norman Magden. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990. WalterPrichard Kristen L.Rouse See alsoHolidays and Festivals . |
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"Mardi Gras." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Mardi Gras." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401802533.html "Mardi Gras." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401802533.html |
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Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras , last day before the fasting season of Lent. It is the French name for Shrove Tuesday . Literally translated, the term means "fat Tuesday" and was so called because it represented the last opportunity for merrymaking and excessive indulgence in food and drink before the solemn season of fasting. In the cities of some Roman Catholic countries the custom of holding carnivals for Mardi Gras has continued since the Middle Ages. The carnivals, with spectacular parades, masked balls, mock ceremonials, and street dancing, usually last for a week or more before Mardi Gras itself. Some of the most celebrated are held in New Orleans, Rio de Janeiro, Nice, and Cologne. For a full discussion of this subject, see carnival . |
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"Mardi Gras." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Mardi Gras." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-MardiGra.html "Mardi Gras." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-MardiGra.html |
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Mardi gras
Mardi gras Community festival or carnival held on Shrove Tuesday, the day before the beginning of Lent, in many Roman Catholic countries, particularly France. In the USA, most notably New Orleans, it includes parades, concerts and dances.
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"Mardi gras." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Mardi gras." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-Mardigras.html "Mardi gras." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-Mardigras.html |
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Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras a carnival held in some countries on Shrove Tuesday, most famously in New Orleans. The (French) phrase means literally ‘fat Tuesday’, alluding to the last day of feasting before the fast and penitence of Lent.
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Mardi Gras." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Mardi Gras." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-MardiGras.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "Mardi Gras." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-MardiGras.html |
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Mardi Gras
Mar·di Gras / ˈmärdē ˌgrä/ • n. a carnival held in some countries on Shrove Tuesday, most famously in New Orleans. |
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"Mardi Gras." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Mardi Gras." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-mardigras.html "Mardi Gras." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-mardigras.html |
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Mardi Gras
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"Mardi Gras." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Mardi Gras." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-MardiGras.html "Mardi Gras." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-MardiGras.html |
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