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Created: July 22, 2002
Latest Update: July 23, 2002
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Thumbnail photo of Bakhtin from Jeff Shires' page at Geocities. Mikhail Bakhtin and Social Theory

Teaching Essay Copyright: Jeanne Curran and Susan R. Takata and Individaul Authors, July 2002.
"Fair use" encouraged.

This essay is based on "Conclusion: Chapter 6 by Dr. Jeff Shires. For those of you who have not purchased the text, The Norms of Answerability, by Greg M. Nielsen, SUNY Press, 2002, the conclusion to Dr. Shires' dissertation will be of some help as a good summary of concepts that are important in Bakhtin's work.

Important ideas to note as you read Dr. Shires' dissertation:

  • "everyone who uses Bakhtin creates a new 'Bakhtin,' emphasizing some texts while denying others."

    Bakhtin is important in current social theory. His is a name you should recognize, and you should know a little about him. He was not a sociologist. He was a cultural theorist primarily concerned with aesthetics and ethics and the resistance of creativity to the authoritarian regime in which he lived in Russia. He speaks of the means of preserving the creativity of the individual within the normative expectations of the community. He does not use the term "intersubjectivity," but you'll find that the concept did not escape him. He does speak of I-for-the-other, and I-for-the-self. His ideas fit in well with our discussions on alterity and colonial studies. And, of course, you won't miss the conceptual link with George Herbert Mead's concept of the self as "I" and "me".

    References