Questions and Answers for Mikhail Bakhtin
Mikhail Bakhtin
In "Discourse in the Novel," what aspect is Mikhail Bakhtin highlighting? Explain with the help of the examples from...
As in other works, in "Discourse in the Novel," Bakhtin distinguishes the novel from other genres, such as poetry, through its multiplicity of voices. Novels are not univocal but dialogic:...
Mikhail Bakhtin
Explain the concept of grotesque realism and also the main theme of the chapter Rabelais and His World which the...
Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of the grotesque is a key element of the larger project of grotesque realism. Bakhtin insists on the importance of confronting and even emphasizing the material qualities...
Mikhail Bakhtin
How does Bakhtin treat language?
For Bakhtin, language is dialogic, meaning that no one person or group owns it; the meanings of words instead develop in the context of dialogues between different people. For Bakhtin, the basic...
Mikhail Bakhtin
Explain Bakhtin's concept of Heteroglossia and how it defines novel's unique characteristics. Illustrate your...
Bakhtin argued that early Formalist and Structuralist critics did not articulate the "sociological stylistics" of literature. These critics focused too much on the unitary, abstract rules of...
Mikhail Bakhtin
What is meant by reader response theory according to Mikhail Bakhtin?
It is true that Bakhtin is known mostly as a Formalist and Marxist literary theorist. One of Bakhtin's most famous works is Discourse in the Novel. In this work, he discusses heteroglossia, the...
Mikhail Bakhtin
What were Bakhtin's main concerns regarding language and how does he treat language?
Bakhtin believed that language should be studied for its dynamic, real life, elements of speech and social relations. He did not think, as some structuralists did, that language is an abstract...
Mikhail Bakhtin
How is the concept of "Language" for Bakhtin similar and different from the "language" concept for Saussure.
For Saussure, who was the father of structuralist theory, language is a closed system of differential signs that are disconnected from history, a material that can be studied as a science/system of...
Mikhail Bakhtin
What exactly is Mikhail Bakhtin trying to explain in "Discourse in the Novel"?
To Bakhtin, the novel stands apart from earlier forms such as the epic or lyric poem because it includes a multiplicity of voices. It is polyphonic, or made up of a blend of voices and dialects. It...
Mikhail Bakhtin
Explain the concept of " Intertextuality" and how it is related to Mikhail Bakhtin's essay "Discourse in the Novel."
Formalist and early Structuralist thinkers failed to articulate a sociological, "living language" in their literary analyses. Bakhtin recognized this and referred to this mistake as a "monologic"...
Mikhail Bakhtin
Deifne the term Heteroglossia referring to "Discourse in the Novel."
"Heteroglossia" literally means "other voices" or "different voices." Bakhtin believed that the complexity and diversity of many different voices was overlooked in literary and sociological...
Mikhail Bakhtin
Using Bakhtin's concept of heteroglossia, how does the individual production of text-messages show centripetal and...
There are a couple of issues going on in this question. It seems to me that the best way to approach it is to take each one singularly and move from there. If we examine "heteroglossia" as the...
Mikhail Bakhtin
What are Bakhtin's main concerns regarding language?
Bakhtin believed that the basic units of language, such as words or utterances, do not have abstract meanings but are instead affected by the speaker's relationships with other people and the...
Mikhail Bakhtin
What is the difference between Bakhtin's notion of 'dialogism' and 'double-voicing' in regards to everyday literacy...
Bakhtin's ideas of dialogism and double voicing are among several aspect of performative pragmatics, and they both aim to explain how the process of speaking, listening, and understanding are...
Mikhail Bakhtin
Assess how Bakhtin treats language.
I tend to think that any discussion of Bakhtin is going to be complex and intricate. In true Bakhtin form, there is little that is simple and direct. Rather, much of his thinking is divergent and...
Mikhail Bakhtin
What was Bakhtin's main concern regarding language?
Bakhtin's ideas around language concern the way that he saw humans as being part of a community and his view that language meant they could never be viewed as being isolated from each other. Note...
Mikhail Bakhtin
Discuss Bakhtin's theory of the polyphonic novel and his notion of carnivalization.
In his seminal work, Problems of Dostoevsky's Poetics, Bakhtin developed his theory of the polyphonic novel in response to Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov. He defines a polyphonic work as one...
Mikhail Bakhtin
Why was Mikhail Bakhtin called an "unsystematic thinker?"
Bakhtin's thought can be characterized as "unsystematic" for two reasons. First, Bakhtin's work spanned categories. He made major contributions to philosophy, linguistics, semiotics, and literary...