Bakhtin And Cultural Theory

This wide-ranging treatment of Bakhtin's cultural and literary theory tests, compares, and explores his work in relation to colonialism, feminism, reception theory, and theories of the body. Many of the essays in the first edition have become standard reference points in cultural debate. This revised second edition takes advantage of the wealth of new Bakhtin material which became available after perestroika. New articles make use of previously unacknowledged sources of Bakhtin's theory of dialogue; they also vividly recount the dramatic events surrounding his thesis on Rabelais, and interrogate his famous distinction between poetry and the novel.

An important collection of essays which treats Bakhtin as a provocative theorist whose work must be tested, explored and compared with the work of others. Contributors assess Bakhtin's contribution to difficult issues of colonialism, feminism, reception theory and theories of the body, amongst others. New articles explore the origins, previously unacknowledged, of Bakhtin's theory of language and provide a vivid account of the dramatic scandal surrounding Bakhtin's thesis on Rabelais. Contains dramatic new material, drawn from post-perestroika sources, which demythologizes the image of this important writer. A new bibliographical essay and introduction bring the English-language reader up-to-date with the progress of Bakhtin studies in Russia.

"Mikhail Bakhtin (1895-1975) has had an enormous influence on literary studies and cultural theory. Bakhtin between East and West: Cross-Cultural Transmission looks beyond the concepts of carnival and dialogue and traces for the first time the transformation of the Bakhtin Circle's thought from its introduction to the West in Julia Kristeva's seminal late-1960s theory of intertextuality, through Tzvetan Todorov's landmark study and on to contemporary interpretations. The notion of sociality in all its problematic complexity provides the red thread guiding us through this historical and thematic examination of Western and Russian Bakhtin studies. As a critical evaluation of Bakhtin scholarship across various cultures and a celebration of the vigour of the Circle's legacy, this is an invaluable resource for scholars and students with an interest in Bakhtin and critical theory."

As interest in the work of Bakhtin grows there is an increasing demand for a well organized, readable text which explains his main ideas and relates them to current social and cultural theory. This book is designed to supply this demand. Elegantly written with the needs of the student coming to Bakhtin for the first time in mind, it provides the essential guide to this important and neglected thinker.

The Russian critic and theorist Mikhail Bakhtin is once again in favor, his influence spreading across many discourses including literature, film, cultural and gender studies. This book provides the most comprehensive introduction to Bakhtin’s central concepts and terms. Sue Vice illustrates what is meant by such ideas as carnival, the grotesque body, dialogism and heteroglossia. These concepts are then placed in a contemporary context by drawing out the implications of Bakhtin’s writings, for current issues such as feminism and sexuality. Vice’s examples are always practically based on specific texts such as the film Thelma and Louise, Helen Zahavi’s Dirty Weekend and James Kelman's How late it was, how late.

In this multi-disciplinary volume, comprising the work of several established scholars from different countries, central concepts associated with the work of the Bakhtin Circle are interrogated in relation to intellectual history, language theory and an understanding of new media. The book will prove an important resource for those interested in the ideas of the Bakhtin Circle, but also for those attempting to develop a coherent theoretical approach to language in use and problems of meaning production in new media.

This volume brings together nine essays by established and new scholars from Russia, Britain and North America to explore the historical contexts and current relevance of the work of the Bakhtin Circle for social theory, philosophy, history and linguistics.

A critique of cultural studies that invokes Bakhtin, Benjamin, and de Man.