Christianity in Bakhtin: God and the Exiled Author

by Ruth Coates

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521022972
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/17/2005
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Russian Literature
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	220
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.06(h) x 0.59(d)
Lexile:	1520L (what's this?)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Note on translation and citation; 1. Introduction; 2. Fall and Incarnation in 'Towards a Philosophy of the Act'; 3. The aesthetic gospel of 'Author and Hero in Aesthetic Activity'; 4. Was Bakhtin a Marxist? The work of the Bakhtin Circle, 1924–29; 5. Falling silent: the critical aesthetic of Problems of Dostoevsky's Creative Work; 6. The exiled author: 'Discourse in the Novel' and beyond; 7. Christian motifs in Bakhtin's carnival writings; 8. The fate of Christian motifs in Bakhtin's work; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"...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

From the Publisher