THE 'GREAT TIME' OF MIKHAIL BAKHTIN

On 17 November 2015, the Russian Center at the Alecu Russo Balti State University hosted a celebration of the 120th anniversary of the birth of Mikhail Bakhtin, a major Russian philosopher, literary critic, linguist and art theorist.

Students and professors spoke about Mikhail Bakhtin’s major works and the terms he introduced to philology, cultural studies and philosophy, changing the principles of analyzing works of art forever.

In his book Problems of Dostoevsky's Poetics (1929), Bakhtin introduced the notion of “polyphony” in literary texts. Dostoevsky’s prose is “dialogic” as opposed to “monologic” works of most authors. The philosophical concept of culture as a dialogue caused a revolution in sociolinguistics and laid the foundations of modern cultural studies.

Mikhail Bakhtin’s Rabelais and the Folk Culture of the Middle Ages and Renaissance (published in 1965 as Rabelais and His World) revolutionized literary theory. This work proves that literature dates back to “folk feasts”—carnivals and mystery plays—and reveals the ambivalent nature of laughter.

Mikhail Bakhtin is one of the deepest thinkers of the 20th century. 

His ideas about culture as a dialogue are as relevant as ever. His works gave rise to dozens of monographs and magazines (among them the Dialogue. Carnival. Chronotope magazine). He gave an impetus to a wide range of sciences, and even though some of his ideas were not fully developed, they are now being explored by various schools of thought.

Students watched the documentary 

Mikhail Bakhtin: A Man from the ‘Great Time’ made by Russia-K TV channel in 2009. 

The film’s author, Dmitry Bak, is the Vice Rector of the Russian State University for the Humanities. The documentary presents previously unknown facts about the scientist’s life.

According to Mikhail Bakhtin, the ‘great time’ is the time of great meanings uncovered by creators in different eras, the time of freedom from trivial matters: “in the ‘great time’, nothing can vanish without a trace and everything comes back to life”. This is the time Mikhail Bakhtin lives in.