Feminism Bakhtin And The Dialogic

Feminism, Bakhtin, and the Dialogic assembles thirteen essays on the intersection of Bakhtin's narrative theory, especially his concept of dialogism. The book explores the dimensions of using Bakhtin for a feminist analysis and discerns the connections between feminist dialogics and cultural materialism. The authors offer various views ranging from studies of ecofeminism, gender theories of novelistic discourse, Bakhtin and French feminism, to analyses of contemporary novelists such as Toni Morrison, Nadine Gordimer, and Pat Barker. Drawing on Bakhtin's sociolinguistics, this book provides an introduction to feminist work on Bakhtin and the development of a cultural politics of reading. Challenging questions are raised: What is dialogic feminism? Can Bakhtin's theories advance a feminist politics? How does a feminist dialogics fit into a materialist feminist practice? Can the "dialogic imagination" also describe some of the most radical moments within feminist thinking? The interdisciplinary focus of these responses represents the ongoing dialogue among literary critics, cultural theorists, and feminists.

Feminist Dialogics examines the structure of four novels (Hawthorne's The Blithedale Romance, James's The Golden Bowl, Wharton's The House of Mirth and Chopin's The Awakening) through the lens of Mikhail Bakhtin's critical framework. The author draws on Bakhtin's notion of heteroglossia to show how the interaction of many voices forms the social community of the novel and how the functioning of these voices makes clear statements about the position and fate of women in these specific societies. The novels present dialogic situations in which the women misinterpret their social texts and, therefore, fail to understand their own social power. The four works considered in this study represent the struggle for women's construction of self within a dialogic structure of many competing voices. Bauer introduces and enters into dialogue with other theorists who are concerned with the social implications of reading and interpretation, including Rene Girard, Wolfgang Iser, Sandra Gilbert, and Susan Gubar, as well as other American feminists. The recurring theme in the novels of this study is the exclusion and rivalry of discourse: the competition among characters for authoritative and interpretive power. Each voice in the novel is a thematization of an ideological perspective and, as such, competes for domination. The conspiracy of voices to exclude the female reflects the social reality as well. This work is an important contribution to literary criticism and feminist theory.

A Dialogue of Voices was first published in 1994. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions. The work of the Russian theorist Mikhail Bakhtin, particularly his notions of dialogics and genre, has had a substantial impact on contemporary critical practices. Until now, however, little attention has been paid to the possibilities and challenges Bakhtin presents to feminist theory, the task taken up in A Dialogue of Voices. The original essays in this book combine feminism and Bakhtin in unique ways and, by interpreting texts through these two lenses, arrive at new theoretical approaches. Together, these essays point to a new direction for feminist theory that originates in Bakhtin-one that would lead to a feminine être rather than a feminine écriture. Focusing on feminist theorists such as Hélène Cixous, Teresa de Lauretis, Julia Kristeva, and Monique Wittig in conjunction with Bakhtin's concepts of dialogism, heteroglossia, and chronotope, the authors offer close readings of texts from a wide range of multicultural genres, including nature writing, sermon composition, nineteenth-century British women's fiction, the contemporary romance novel, Irish and French lyric poetry, and Latin American film. The result is a unique dialogue in which authors of both sexes, from several countries and different eras, speak against, for, and with one another in ways that reveal their works anew as well as the critical matrices surrounding them. Karen Hohne is an independent scholar and artist living in Moorhead, Minnesota. Helen Wussow is an assistant professor of English at Memphis State University.

Aquest llibre proposa una lectura feminista dialògica de Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Meridel Le Sueur i Mikhail Bakhtin. La primera part està dedicada al relat curt, considerat un dels aspectes oblidats per Bakhtin. El gènere sexual (“gender”), un altre dels seus oblits, és la base fonamental d’aquesta investigació. Un dels arguments que l’autora defensa és que els híbrids artístics de Gilman i Le Sueur fan impossible que se les confine dins d’un sol gènere literari o sexual. En la segona part s’estudia com la saga deconstructivista de Gilman com el bildungsroman feminista de Le Sueur serveixen per a corregir i expandir la teoria bakhtiniana. Entre altres molts aspectes, els personatges femenins estudiats encarnen el subjecte parlant femení. La tercera part avalua les comunitats de dones creades per la ficció de Le Sueur i Gilman i el seu llegat per a les teories feministes i bakhtinianes. El treball (in)conclou proposant un avanç de la “dialogia feminista” a una “pràctica dialògica del feminisme”, on totes les perspectives feministes apareixen com a gèneres literaris/veus en un diàleg dialògic.

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.

Aquest llibre proposa una lectura feminista dialògica de Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Meridel Le Sueur i Mikhail Bakhtin. La primera part està dedicada al relat curt, considerat un dels aspectes oblidats per Bakhtin. El gènere sexual ('gender'), un altre dels seus oblits, és la base fonamental d'aquesta investigació. Un dels arguments que l'autora defensa és que els híbrids artístics de Gilman i Le Sueur fan impossible que se les confine dins d'un sol gènere literari o sexual. En la segona part s'estudia com la saga deconstructivista de Gilman com el bildungsroman feminista de Le Sueur serveixen per a corregir i expandir la teoria bakhtiniana. Entre altres molts aspectes, els personatges femenins estudiats encarnen el subjecte parlant femení. La tercera part avalua les comunitats de dones creades per la ficció de Le Sueur i Gilman i el seu llegat per a les teories feministes i bakhtinianes. El treball (in)conclou proposant un avanç de la 'dialogia feminista' a una 'pràctica dialògica del feminisme', on totes les perspectives feministes apareixen com a gèneres literaris/veus en un diàleg dialògic.

Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible to scholars, students, researchers, and general readers. Rich with historical and cultural value, these works are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions. The books offered through Minnesota Archive Editions are produced in limited quantities according to customer demand and are available through select distribution partners.