The First Hundred Years of Mikhail Bakhtin

Rating:
Summary: Refreshing, compelling literary theory.
Review: Bakhtin has some great, clear ideas on fiction; and Caryl Emerson is wonderful.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but useful for advanced Study only
Review: I can really only recommend this book to those who have read all of Bakhtin's translated work and are seeking more information. For those seeking an introduction and interpretation "Creation of Prosaics", also by Caryl Emerson, together with Gary Saul Morson, is much better. Indeed, Emerson assumes that the reader is familiar with Bakhtin's work. These points aside, she does provide some interesting information about the current (1997) state of Bakhtin Studies in Russia, and Bakhtin's reception in his lifetime. I found this of particular interest. In the second part Emerson tackles a "reworking (of) three problematic areas". Mainly the subjects of: 1.) Dostoevsky, Polyphony and Dialogism 2.) Carnivalism 3.) "Outsideness" This makes for interesting reading, but nothing really new or groundbreaking is offered. It is merely another look back by a leading Bakhtin Scholar on twenty years or so of Study. The book is undoubtedly well written, and Emerson surely knows her subject, but I can only recommend this to Bakhtin scholars.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but useful for advanced Study only
Review: I can really only recommend this book to those who have read all of Bakhtin's translated work and are seeking more information. For those seeking an introduction and interpretation "Creation of Prosaics", also by Caryl Emerson, together with Gary Saul Morson, is much better. Indeed, Emerson assumes that the reader is familiar with Bakhtin's work. These points aside, she does provide some interesting information about the current (1997) state of Bakhtin Studies in Russia, and Bakhtin's reception in his lifetime. I found this of particular interest. In the second part Emerson tackles a "reworking (of) three problematic areas". Mainly the subjects of: 1.) Dostoevsky, Polyphony and Dialogism 2.) Carnivalism 3.) "Outsideness" This makes for interesting reading, but nothing really new or groundbreaking is offered. It is merely another look back by a leading Bakhtin Scholar on twenty years or so of Study. The book is undoubtedly well written, and Emerson surely knows her subject, but I can only recommend this to Bakhtin scholars.