Art and Answerability: Early Philosophical Essays - Paperback

by M. M. Bakhtin (Author)

Art and Answerability contains three of Mikhail Bakhtin's early essays from the years following the Russian Revolution, when Bakhtin and other intellectuals eagerly participated in the debates, lectures, demonstrations, and manifesto writing of the period. Because they predate works that have already been translated, these essays-"Art and Answerability," "Author and Hero in Aesthetic Activity," and "The Problem of Content, Material, and Form in Verbal Art"-are essential to a comprehensive understanding of Bakhtin's later works. A superb introduction by Michael Holquist sets out the major themes and concerns of the three essays and identifies their place in the canon of Bakhtin's work and in intellectual history. The introduction, together with Vadim Liapunov's scholarly gloss, makes these essays accessible to students as well as scholars.

Back Jacket

The essays assembled here are all very early and differ in a number of ways from Bakhtin's previously published work. Readers will probably first suspect that they are encountering a 'new Bakhtin' in the style of these essays. One reason why Bakhtin has so quickly become popular with so many (and varied) readers is that they have found him easy to read, at least by comparison with other theorists now competing for attention.

Author Biography

Mikhail Bakhtin (1895-1975) is one of the preeminent figures in twentieth-century philosophical thought.