Bakhtin, Mikhail

Bakhtin, Mikhail

▪ Russian philosopher and literary critic
in full  Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin 
born Nov. 17 [Nov. 5, Old Style], 1895, Orel, Russia
died March 7, 1975, Moscow, U.S.S.R.

      Russian literary theorist and philosopher of language whose wide-ranging ideas significantly influenced Western thinking in cultural history, linguistics, literary theory, and aesthetics.

      After graduating from the University of St. Petersburg (now St. Petersburg State University) in 1918, Bakhtin taught high school in western Russia before moving to Vitebsk (now Vitsyebsk, Belarus), a cultural centre of the region, where he and other intellectuals organized lectures, debates, and concerts. There Bakhtin began to write and develop his critical theories. Because of Stalinist censorship, he often published works under the names of friends, including P.N. Medvedev and V.N. Voloshinov. These early works include Freydizm (1927; Freudianism); Formalny metod v literaturovedeni (1928; The Formal Method in Literary Scholarship), an attack on the Formalist (Formalism)s' view of history; and Marksizm i filosofiya yazyka (1929; Marxism and the Philosophy of Language). Despite his precautions, Bakhtin was arrested in 1929 and exiled to the Kazakh Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. From 1945 to 1961 he taught at the Mordovian Teachers Training College.

      Bakhtin is especially known for his work on the Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Dostoyevsky, Fyodor), Problemy tvorchestva Dostoyevskogo (1929; 2nd ed., 1963, retitled Problemy poetiki Dostoyevskogo; Problems of Dostoevsky's Poetics), which he published under his own name just before he was arrested. It is considered one of the finest critical works on Dostoyevsky. In the book Bakhtin expressed his belief in a mutual relation between meaning and context involving the author, the work, and the reader, each constantly affecting and influencing the others, and the whole influenced by existing political and social forces. Bakhtin further developed this theory of polyphony, or “dialogics,” in Voprosy literatury i estetiki (1975; The Dialogic Imagination), in which he postulated that, rather than being static, language evolves dynamically and is affected by and affects the culture that produces and uses it. Bakhtin also wrote Tvorchestvo Fransua Rable i narodnaya kultura srednevekovya i Renessansa (1965; Rabelais and His World).

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Bakhtin,Mikhail Mikhailovich — Bakh·tin (bäk tēnʹ, bäKH ), Mikhail Mikhailovich. 1895 1975. Russian linguist and literary critic, whose writings, including Problems of Dostoyevsky s Works (1929) and The Dialogic Imagination (1975), were very influential in 20th century… …   Universalium

  • Bakhtin, Mikhail (Mikhailovich) — born Nov. 17, 1895, Orel, Russia died March 7, 1975, Moscow, U.S.S.R. Russian literary theorist and philosopher of language. His works frequently offended the Soviet authorities, and in 1929 he was exiled from Vitsyebsk to Kazakhstan. He is… …   Universalium

  • Mikhail Bakhtin — (1920) …   Wikipedia

  • Mikhail — (as used in expressions) Mikhail Fyodorovich Romanov Bakhtin Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakunin Mikhail Aleksandrovich Barclay de Tolly Mikhail Bogdanovich Prince Baryshnikov Mikhail Nikolayevich Borodin Mikhail Markovich Mikhail Gruzenberg Bulgakov… …   Universalium

  • Bakhtin — Mikhaïl Bakhtine Plaque commémorative Mikhaïl Bakhtine (1895 à Orel, Russie 1975 à Moscou, Russie) est un historien et théoricien russe de la littérature. Bakhtine s est également intéressé à la ps …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Bakhtin — [bäkh′tin] Mikhail [mē΄khä ēl′] 1895 1975; Russ. literary critic & theoretician * * * …   Universalium

  • Bakhtin — [bäkh′tin] Mikhail [mē΄khä ēl′] 1895 1975; Russ. literary critic & theoretician …   English World dictionary

  • Mikhail Bakhtin — Michail Michailowitsch Bachtin (russisch Михаил Михайлович Бахтин; wiss. Transliteration Michail Michajlovič Bachtin; * 17. Novemberjul./ 29. November 1895greg. in Orjol; † 7. März 1975 in Moskau) war ein russischer Literaturwissenschaftler und… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Bakhtin — Michail Michailowitsch Bachtin (russisch Михаил Михайлович Бахтин; wiss. Transliteration Michail Michajlovič Bachtin; * 17. Novemberjul./ 29. November 1895greg. in Orjol; † 7. März 1975 in Moskau) war ein russischer Literaturwissenschaftler und… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • БАХТИН МИХАИЛ — (Bakhtin, Mikhail) (1895 1975) русский мыслитель, чьи идеи о характере диалога оказали огромное влияние на целый ряд областей, включая теорию литературы, социальную теорию, антропологию, лингвистику и психологию. Центральным в теории Бахтина… …   Большой толковый социологический словарь

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