The First Hundred Years of Mikhail Bakhtin

Brings to light Bakhtin's foundational ideas, forged in the early revolutionary years, which hardly altered in his lifetime. The text explores Bakhtin's reception in Russia, from his earliest publication in 1929, until his death in 1975, and his posthumous rediscovery. After a reception-history of his published work, the book examines the role of his ideas in the post-Stalinist revival of the Russian literary profession, concentrating on the three major concepts in his world: dialogue and polyphony; carnival; and "outsideness", a position Bakhtin considered essential to both ethics and aesthetics. Finally, the text provides an analysis of Bakhtin's method.