Page 190 - DENG501_LITERARY_CRITICISM_AND_THEORIES

Literary Criticism and Theories

Notes • Bakhtin's works and ideas gained popularity after his death, and he endured difficult
conditions for much of his professional life, a time in which information was often seen as
dangerous and therefore often hidden. As a result, the details provided now are often of
uncertain accuracy. Also contributing to the imprecision of these details is the limited access
to Russian archival information during Bakhtin's life. It is only after the archives became
public that scholars realized that much of what they thought they knew about the details of
Bakhtin's life was false or skewed largely by Bakhtin himself.
• He is known today for his interest in a wide variety of subjects, ideas, vocabularies, and
periods, as well as his use of authorial disguises, and for his influence (alongside György
Lukács) on the growth of Western scholarship on the novel as a premiere literary genre. As
a result of the breadth of topics with which he dealt, Bakhtin has influenced such Western
schools of theory as Neo-Marxism, Structuralism, and Semiotics.
• While Bakhtin is traditionally seen as a literary critic, there can be no denying his impact on
the realm of rhetorical theory. Among his many theories and ideas Bakhtin indicates that
style is a developmental process, occurring both within the user of language and language
itself. His work instills in the reader an awareness of tone and expression that arises from the
careful formation of verbal phrasing.

16.6 Key-Words

1. Genre : A kind; a literary type or style. Poetry, drama, novel may be subdivided into
lyric (including elegy, ode, song, sonnet, etc.) epic, tragedy, comedy, short story,
biography, etc.

16.7 Review Questions

1. Discuss early life of Mikhail.
2. Explain works and ideas of Bakhtin.
3. What is the genre of Bakhtin? Explain.
Answers: Self-Assessment

1. (i)(a) (ii)(c) (iii)(b) (iv)(a)
16.8 Further Readings

1. Hutcheon, Linda A poetics of postmodernism, London: Routledge, 1988.
2. Kennedy, X.J., Dana Gioia, Mark Bauerlein, Handbook of Literary Terms:
Literature, Language, Theory, 1st edition, New Delhi: Pearson, 2007.
3. Lodge, David (ed.) Twentieth Century Literary Criticism, London: Longman,
1972.
4. Rice, Philip and Patricia Waugh (eds.) A Modern Literary Theory: A Reader, 3rd
edition, London: Arnold, 1999.
5. Sethuraman, V.S. and Ramaswamy (eds.) The English Critical Tradition, Volume
II, New Delhi, Macmillan, 1977.
6. Seturaman, V.S. (ed.) Contemporary Criticism: An Anthology, New Delhi:
Macmillan, 2008.

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