Lea Anderson

In his studies of the grotesque and carnivalesque (what we might consider a theoretical precedent for queer theories of camp), Russian philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin identifies the mouth as “the most important of all human features for the grotesque.” As he puts it, “the grotesque face is actually reduced to the gaping mouth; the other features … only a frame encasing this wide open bodily abyss.”

“The grotesque face is actually reduced to the gaping mouth; the other features…only a frame encasing this wide open bodily abyss.” – Mikhail Bakhtin