Mikhail Bakhtin's ideas have influenced thinking in literary studies, anthropology, linguistics, psychology and social theory. But is there a discernible shape to his work as a whole?
Michael Holquist's masterly study draws on all of Bakhtin's writings known to exist, to provide a comprehensive account of his achievement. He argues that Bakhtin's work gains coherence through his commitment to the concept of dialogue. Holquist examines Bakhtin's dialogue with other thinkers, including Saussure, Freud, Marx and Lukacs, as well as other figures in the history of thinking about dialogue whose connection with Bakhtin's work have previously been ignored.
Dialogism also includes dialogic readings of some major literary texts - Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Gogol's The Nose and Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby - which provide another dimension of dialogue with dialogue.