Argumentative Elements of Bakhtinian Carnivalization in the Iconography of Heavy Metal

Abstract

Within ‘hard rock’, especially the heavy metal genre, marketed products employ an iconography that could be considered hostile, abusive and aggressive. The presence of the grotesque in the vast majority of LP, CD and DVD cover art indicates that rule-breaking and provocation are natural attributes of the nonconformity and rebelliousness, typical of its discourse. This study is intended to search for a deeper understanding of the use of such strong and aggressive iconography by examining the grotesque as essential to the Bakhtinian concept of carnivalization, in conjunction with the polyphonic and dialogical processes, shifted here from their original literary character to the argumentative semantics of image reading.