Swabian-Alemannic Carnival in German Society Today - A Qualitative Research on the Contemporary Role of Carnival

Research in carnival studies mainly focuses on the origins, purpose and the interpretation of symbolism of carnival traditions. Moreover, most scientific research is conducted focusing on the historic development, while only little research is focusing on contemporary variations and the role of carnival for society today. Therefore, this thesis puts the experience of people into the spotlight by answering the following research question: What role does carnival play in society today and how do participants create identification with carnival? Hence, it concentrates on how people make sense of carnival and how their identification process enables them to foster community cohesion. The base of this research is interviews conducted among participants of carnival associations. By using a thematic analysation approach the respondents’ statements were sorted into themes, which were brought into context in order to answer the research question. As a result of numerous changes in society, but mainly due to growing prosperity and mobility, carnival is not the only opportunity to escape from constraints of daily life, diminishing one of its traditionally ascribed functions for (national) society. However, when looking at it on a more local scale, carnival still plays an essential role in (local) community, as it creates a neutral space, where regardless of a person’s societal background, people can come together.