Routledge Carnivalizing Difference: Bakhtin and the Other (Routledge Harwood Studies in Russian and European Literature)

It has seemed at times that there is no neutral territory between those who see Bakhtin as the practitioner of a kind of neo-Marxist, or at least materialist, deconstruction and those who look at the same texts and see a defender of traditional, liberal humanist values and classical conceptions of order, a conservative in the true sense of the term. Arising from a conference under the same title held at Texas Tech University, Carnivalizing Difference seeks to explore the actual and possible relationships between Bakhtinian theory and cultural practice. The introduction explores the changing configurations of our understanding of Bakhtin's work in the context of recent theory and outlines how that understanding can inform, and be informed by, culture both ancient and modern. Eleven articles, spanning a wide range of periods and cultural forms, then address these issues in detail, revealing the ways in which Bakhtinian thought illuminates, sometimes obfuscates, but always challenges. Review ""Carnivalizing Difference brings a level of intellectual rigor and consistency to Bakhtinian approaches, qualities that other studies sometimes lack. Notable for their depth of understanding, originality, and relevance, the essays in "Carnivalizing Difference illuminate the seemingly endless possibilities Bakhtinian thought possesses for literary studies, as well as serve as a valuable blueprint for the future of Bakhtin studies." -Lee Templeton, University of North Carolina, Greesboro, "symploke "For scholars interested in the individual works covered, and in one approach to the theme of poverty and imagination, whether or not one agrees with the ideas, this is a book to read." -Ellen Chances, Princeton University, The Russian Review, October 2002 About the Author Peter I. Barta is Senior Lecturer in Russian Studies and Head of Russian at the University of Surrey, UK. Paul Allen Miller is Associate Professor of Classics and Director of Comparative Literature at the University of South Carolina, USA. Charles Platter is Professor of Classics at the University of Georgia, USA. David Shepherd is Professor of Russian and Director of The Bakhtin Centre at the University of Sheffield, UK.