Mikhail Bakhtin

Perspectivas

by Katerina Clark, Michael Holquist

In such diverse fields as semiotics, literary theory, social theory, linguistics, psychology, and anthropology, Mikhail Bakhtin’s importance is increasingly recognized. His posthumous fame comes in striking contrast to his obscurity during his lifetime (1895–1975), much of it spent as a semi-invalid in a succession of provincial towns. He received no public recognition, in the Soviet Union or abroad, until the last dozen years of his long life―not surprisingly, given the historical circumstances. His books on Freudianism (1927), on Formalism (1928), and on Marxism and the philosophy of language (1929) were published as the work of others, as were a number of important essays. His study of Dostoevsky appeared under his own name but only after his arrest and sentence to exile, and it quickly disappeared from sight. Some manuscripts were never published; one was used by Bakhtin for cigarette paper. His book on Rabelais, completed in 1940, remained unpublished for twenty-five years―until, in a less repressive political climate, friends had succeeded in negotiating a reissue of the book on Dostoevsky.

The Rabelais book, when translated, caused a stir among folklorists, anthropologists, and social historians, with its theory of carnival and of ritual inversions of hierarchy. The book on Dostoevsky aroused intense interest among literary theorists in the concept of the “polyphonic novel” and the many authorial voices to be heard therein. Similarly, as Bakhtin’s other writings have appeared in translation, he has been hailed in disparate circles for his contributions to linguistic, psychoanalytic, and social theory. But among all those who have studied various aspects of Bakhtin’s work, few have been in a position, or even attempted, to assess his total achievement.

It is the great merit of Katerina Clark and Michael Holquist’s book that they have endeavored, insofar as possible, to give us the complete life and the complete works of this complex and multifaceted figure. The authors have had unique access to the Bakhtin archive in Moscow, have traced further material in other cities in Europe, and have interviewed many persons who knew Bakhtin. The phases of his life are placed in their physical and intellectual milieux, and accounts are given of the figures who made up the various “Bakhtin circles” over the years. All of the works, published and unpublished, are discussed, in the context of European philosophical movements and the currents of thought of the time. Underlying and informing Bakhtin’s particular theories in various fields was, in the authors’ view, his lifelong meditation on the relation between self and other. The philosophy he evolved has come to be called dialogism, since it conceives of the world in terms of communication and exchange. It is a world view with wide-ranging implications for the human sciences.

Genres: Biography, Philosophy, Literary Criticism

398 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Katerina Clark is B. E. Bensinger Professor of Comparative Literature and Slavic Languages and Literatures at Yale University. Her books include Moscow, the Fourth Rome; Petersburg: Crucible of Cultural Revolution; and, with Michael Holquist, Mikhail Bakhtin.

Reviews

[sologdin · Rating 1 out of 5]

more a biography than anything else, used to advance holquist's ideas from the Dialogism Bakhtin and His World, which autobiographical criticism is not entirely consistent with holquist's argument therein.

[Pedro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Embora seu início seja algo maçante, esta biografia intelectual de Mikhail Bakhtin, escrita por Katerina Clark e Michael Holquist, revela-se, ao final, uma leitura bastante gratificante.
É possível aprender um bocado com eles. Talvez por não ser especialista em história cultural soviética, ou mesmo em teoria da literatura, mas o fato é que, se não é indispensável, o livro de Clark e Holquist presenteia o leitor com questões interessantes. Li-o com o fito de preparar melhor minha aula sobre Burckhardt e Bakhtin do curso de Historiografia Contemporânea da graduação à distância de minha universidade.
A primeira delas diz respeito ao próprio fascínio de Bakhtin por Dostoiévski, fascínio muito bem descrito pelos autores. Ressalte-se que Bakhtin conseguiu mostrar que, por detrás do eslavófilo comunitário escritor residia alguém que era, acima de tudo, um grande individualista. E um individualista no melhor sentido da palavra, ou seja, alguém que vê, na leitura do texto, uma experiência de indefinição. Por se saber indefinido, por saber que não há autenticidade e que ser humano é estar em desacordo consigo mesmo, não se pode aceitar definições delegadas por terceiros. Mas isto se lê melhor no próprio livro de Bakthin sobre Dostoiévski. O interessante é ver o comentário dos autores sobre o fato de Bakhtin ter visto, em Dostoiveksi, um autor que fez a revolução copernicana na literatura, ao tirar o autor do romance do centro (p.263), algo que pode me ajudar tremendamente a desenvolver meu insight dado a partir do texto de Freud sobre as feridas narcísicas. De alguma maneira, para que se verifique a ferida narcísica na historiografia, não teria o autor que sair do centro, ao invés do fato, ou do processo histórico? Neste sentido, Gógol é, mais uma vez, precursor de Dostoíevski. O “Diário de um Louco” não deixa de ser um prenúncio para tais problemas.
Enfim: sai de cena o discurso monológico, mas, em seu lugar, não entra o discurso da psicologia do leitor (algo que seria feito mais pelos formalistas), mas uma tríade formada pelo autor, pelo texto e por sua recepção.
A propósito dos formalistas, foi ótimo ver também a inserção contextual deles. De alguma maneira, os jdanovistas, os formalistas e Bakhtin formam a tríade que o próprio crítico vê nas teorias das obras literárias.
Fundamental também foi descobrir que em Bakhtin surge, pela primeira vez, a palavra cronótopo, que hoje todos acham que é invenção do Gumbrecht e do Hartog. Não é. É do Bakthin.
Enfim, um livro correto, erudito, interessante. Valeu.

[Katrinka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good combination of biography and examination of his thought.