Rachel Douglas (asker) Nov 12, 2009:

Sham Yes, I decided "sham" was right, since it fit the context anyway. Thanks especially to boostrer (if you would turn your discussion into an answer, I'll pick it) for pointing out that Bakhtin's literary criticism term has become more widely used, and Dylan for noting other historical precedents.

Zahar Fialkovsky Nov 11, 2009:

Рэйчел, все-таки нужен более широкий контекст. Не может быть, чтобы он ничего не подсказывал. Однако в любом случае "карнавальной" свадьба может быть только в том случае, если она является частью карнавала или обладает его свойствами, т.е. она "не настоящая", фальшивая, игровая. Если контекст культурно-антропологический или филологический -- лучше, мне кажется, использовать термин carnival, с аллюзией на теории М.М.Бахтина. Если нет, то подойдет pageant. НО лучше сначала увидеть контекст. Приведите хотя бы несколько предложений оригинала: станет яснее, что автор имел в виду.

Rachel Douglas (asker) Nov 10, 2009:

Getting close Yes, Angela - Boostrer - Dylan, as I mentioned the event in this (fiction) context _is_ a sham wedding, so if I have the least excuse, as I think you've begun to given me, for understanding "карнавальная" as meaning that, then that's what it should be.

Dylan Edwards Nov 10, 2009:

Could it possibly be a reference to the following? (the Ice Palace etc.)

The tradition of mock weddings has been known in Russia since Peter the Great. In fact, even the wedding festivities of Anna herself included a mock wedding of Peter's jester.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_palace

Otherwise, a search for carnival/mock/funny weddings leads to, e.g., a custom in Martinique (men dressed as women and vice versa), but nothing specifically Russian.

boostrer Nov 10, 2009:

You have to add the context. It well may be that the author uses a term coined by Bakhtin, i.e., fake wedding at the carnival. Is this cultural study or fiction? In the the former case, you have to choose something like "sham wedding" or "carnival wedding"

Angela Greenfield Nov 10, 2009:

Rachel, You might be right. In Russian "карнавал" means concealing your own identity and pretending to be someone else for the night. Maybe what they mean is that both the bride and the groom "pretend dress" in their respective wedding outfits and pretend to be getting married.

Rachel Douglas (asker) Nov 9, 2009:

Context doesn't decide it Yes, "carnival theme" was the first option I asked about, but as far as the context goes, I believe this is also a sham wedding. The two people are getting married for opportunistic reasons and intend to divorce shortly thereafter. That's why I wondered if there were some use of "карнавальный" that I didn't know about, in which the meaning would come from the masks, disguises, nothing being as it seems, which are all typical of Carnival. As I said, the context does not tell me if this expression is describing the outer trappings, or the real purpose of the event. I'll have to guess and/or ask.

Dylan Edwards Nov 9, 2009:

This is a special case and probably rather obscure: http://depculture.tomsk.gov.ru/news/archive/2006/03/03_03
(I should probably call it Fasching).

Dylan Edwards Nov 9, 2009:

Either this is straightforwardly a carnival-themed wedding, as Angela suggests, or (and I've only seen one ref. to this in Russian), it could be a "carnival wedding" in the style of the German Faschung, apparently involving some cross-dressing. Are there any clues in the context?

Angela Greenfield Nov 9, 2009:

carnival-theme wedding http://www.italynews.ru/material_5159.html

Angela Greenfield Nov 9, 2009:

Can this be a "thematic" (theme-based) wedding? Like in "Hawaiian wedding"?