At the outset I indicate my limitations as reviewer of this latest collection of Bakhtin’s work to be translated into English. I have no Russian, nor most of the languages which Bakhtin knew so well and from which he drew copiously to illustrate his arguments. Also I am not well acquainted with several of the disciplines with which his wide and deep thinking engaged. However, I am a student of literature, the literature which is available to one who knows English, and am acquainted with some aspects of 20th century literary criticism. My justification for reviewing the book is my great regard for Bakhtin’s achievement, which, as the introduction to the collection points out, is only now becoming known outside the Soviet Union. He is being recognized today as a thinker of major significance, and as such, the appearance of Speech Generes And Other Late Essays requires our attention.
Nov-Dec 1987, volume 11, No 6