Synopses & Reviews
This book examines the influence of Christianity on the thought and work of the great Russian theorist Mikhael Bakhtin, paying particular attention to the motifs of God the Creator, the Fall, the Incarnation and Christian love. This is the first full-length work to approach Bakhtin from a religious perspective, and introduces the reader to a vitally important but hitherto ignored aspect of his work. In this context Ruth Coates presents readings of Bakhtin very different from those of Marxist and Structuralist critics.
Review
"...potent and truly unique body of work, which could serve to invigorate Christian thinking about the humanities and the social sciences." Books &Culture"...Coates has produced a fine analysis of a number of possible Christian subtexts in Bakhtin's writings. She has also taken a very sound view on the problem of the authorship if the disputed texts produced within the Bakhtin Circle." The Russian Review, vol.59"Her metaphorical approach proves effective in tracing the development of Bakhtin's aesthetics." Slavic ad East European Jrnl
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements; Note on translation and citation; 1. Introduction; 2. Fall and Incarnation in âTowards a Philosophy of the Actâ; 3. The aesthetic gospel of âAuthor and Hero in Aesthetic Activityâ; 4. Was Bakhtin a Marxist? The work of the Bakhtin Circle, 1924 1929; 5. Falling silent: the critical aesthetic of Problems of Dostoevskyâs Creative Work; 6. The exiled Author - âDiscourse in the Novelâand beyond; 7. Christian motifs in Bakhtinâs carnival writings; 8. The fate of Christian motifs in Bakhtinâs work; Notes; Bibliography; Index.