Among the interpretations of the work of Mikhail Bakhtin, none has
been as fiercely contested -- or as willfully ignored -- as the
dimension of religion in his life and work. Unique in its in-depth
focus on this topic, Bakhtin and Religion brings together leading
British, American, and Russian scholars to investigate the role of
religious thought in shaping and framing Bakhtin's
writings.
Bakhtin was careful to distinguish between faith, which he
identified as an abstract codification of a belief system, and a
feeling for faith, which involves the active participation of
persons, both human and divine. It is this "feeling" that
the contributing authors pursue through Bakhtin's texts, in
discussions of the mind-body problem, apophatic or negative
theology, the thought-versus-language distinction, and the practice
of inner prayer. The essays focus not only on the references to
religion in Bakhtin's work but also on some of his early
lectures (included in an appendix to this volume).
Addressing topics ranging from the idea of love in Bakhtin's
secular and religious thought to the religious component of
Bakhtin's theory of laughter, the essays comprise a valuable
overview of Bakhtin's attitude toward religion in general and
Russian Orthodoxy in particular. They also explore how
Bakhtin's religious ideas informed his linguistic and aesthetic
theories.
