Dialogism: Bakhtin and His World (New Accents) - Softcover

Holquist, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0415011809 ISBN 13: 9780415011808

Publisher: Routledge, 1990

Synopsis

Mikhail Bakhtin's ideas have influenced thinking in literary studies, anthropology, linguistics, psychology and social theory. But is there a discernible shape to his work as a whole?
Michael Holquist's masterly study draws on all of Bakhtin's writings known to exist, to provide a comprehensive account of his achievement. He argues that Bakhtin's work gains coherence through his commitment to the concept of dialogue. Holquist examines Bakhtin's dialogue with other thinkers, including Saussure, Freud, Marx and Lukacs, as well as other figures in the history of thinking about dialogue whose connection with Bakhtin's work have previously been ignored.
Dialogism also includes dialogic readings of some major literary texts - Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Gogol's The Nose and Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby - which provide another dimension of dialogue with dialogue.

About this title

Review:

'Holquist is an exceedingly thoughtful interpreter of Bakhtin ... Dialogism will certainly be welcomed by all those many readers fascinated by the many faces of Mikhail Bakhtin.' - Slavic and East European Journal

'With only two comprehensive accounts of Bakhtin's contributions available in the West ... Holquist's attempt to provide a contextualized summary of Bakhtin's work is a formidable accomplishment in its own right, resulting in a volume that will be of interest for those seeking a unified, general understanding of Bakhtin.' - Discourse Studies

Synopsis:

Mikhail Bakhtin's ideas - on the dialogic nature of language, the carnivalesque, the nature of the novel, outsideness and answerability - have gained currency in literary studies, anthropology, linguistics, psychology and social theory. Each discipline offers its own version of Bakhtin's legacy, but none, Michael Holquist suggests, can serve as an adequate basis for understanding the overall significance of Bakhtin's writings. Dialogism will provide this basis: Michael Holquist draws on all of Bakhtin's writings known to exist, including Soviet archive material, to provide a comprehensive account of his whole oeuvre. Holquist argues that while work from different periods in Bakhtin's life is highly varied, there is a discernible shape to his achievement as a whole. The key to Bakhtin's distinctiveness is, Holquist suggests, his commitment to the concept of dialogue, and it is this commitment which provides coherence in the contributions Bakhtin makes to a wide variety of disciplines.

Dialogism examines Bakhtin's dialogue with other thinkers - for example, Saussure, Freud, Marx and Lukacs, as well as other figures in the history of thinking about dialogue whose connectio with Bakhtin's work have previously been ignored.

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0415011809
• ISBN 13: 9780415011808
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224