The Bakhtin Circle In the Master's Absence

The Russian philosopher and cultural theorist Mikhail Bakhtin has traditionally been seen as the leading figure in the group of intellectuals known as the Bakhtin Circle. The writings of other members of the Circle are considered much less important than his work, while Bakhtin's achievement has been exaggerated in proportion to the downgrading of the thinkers with whom he associated in the 1920s. This volume, which includes new translations and studies of the work of the most important members of the Circle, sets out to correct the distortions in the established representations of its activity. The original contributions to literary and linguistic theory made by Valentin Voloshinov and Pavel Medvedev (but frequently credited to Bakhtin) are assessed, and the distinctiveness of their approaches is highlighted.

David Shepherd is Professor of Russian in the Department of Russian and Slavonic Studies, and founder and Director of the Bakhtin Centre, at the University of Sheffield. Craig Brandist is Senior Lecturer in the Bakhtin Centre and Department of Russian and Slavonic Studies at the University of Sheffield. Galin Tihanov is Reader in Comparative Literature and Intellectual History in the Department of European Languages and Cultures at Lancaster University.

Re-Introducing the Bakhtin Circle--David Shepherd * Part One: About the Bakhtin Circle * The Scholarly Legacy of Pavel Medvedev in the Light of His Dialogue with Bakhtin--Iurii Medvedev and Dar'ia Medvedeva * Seeking a 'Third Way' for Soviet Aesthetics: Eurasianism, Marxism, Formalism--Galin Tihanov * The Bakhtin Circle and Problems in Linguistics--Vladimir Alpatov * Voloshinov's Dilemma: on the Philosophical Roots of the Dialogic Theory of the Utterance--Craig Brandist * Lev Pumpianskii and the Nevel School of Philosophy--Nikolai Nikolaev * Kanaev, Vitalism and the Bakhtin Circle--Ben Taylor * Sollertinskii and Dialogical Symphonism--Pauline Fairclough * Part Two: Selected Works By Members of the Bakhtin Circle * Tolstoi's 'Diary'--P.N. Medvedev * Hermann Cohen (4 July 1842-4 April 1918)--M.I. Kagan * [On Marxism]--L.V. Pumpianskii * Archival Materials (I. the Problem of the Transmission of Alien Discourse: An Essay in Sociolinguistic Research; II. Report on Work As a Postgraduate Student, 1927/28: Plan and Some Guiding Thoughts For the Work 'Marxism and the Philosophy of Language')--V.N. Voloshinov * Appendix--The Bakhtin Circle: A Timeline
Re-Introducing the Bakhtin Circle--David Shepherd * Part One: About the Bakhtin Circle * The Scholarly Legacy of Pavel Medvedev in the Light of His Dialogue with Bakhtin--Iurii Medvedev and Dar'ia Medvedeva * Seeking a 'Third Way' for Soviet Aesthetics: Eurasianism, Marxism, Formalism--Galin Tihanov * The Bakhtin Circle and Problems in Linguistics--Vladimir Alpatov * Voloshinov's Dilemma: on the Philosophical Roots of the Dialogic Theory of the Utterance--Craig Brandist * Lev Pumpianskii and the Nevel School of Philosophy--Nikolai Nikolaev * Kanaev, Vitalism and the Bakhtin Circle--Ben Taylor * Sollertinskii and Dialogical Symphonism--Pauline Fairclough * Part Two: Selected Works By Members of the Bakhtin Circle * Tolstoi's 'Diary'--P.N. Medvedev * Hermann Cohen (4 July 1842-4 April 1918)--M.I. Kagan * [On Marxism]--L.V. Pumpianskii * Archival Materials (I. the Problem of the Transmission of Alien Discourse: An Essay in Sociolinguistic Research; II. Report on Work As a Postgraduate Student, 1927/28: Plan and Some Guiding Thoughts For the Work 'Marxism and the Philosophy of Language')--V.N. Voloshinov * Appendix--The Bakhtin Circle: A Timeline