The Bakhtin Circle
The Bakhtin Circle was a 20th century school of Russian thought which centered on the work of Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin. The circle addressed philosophically the social and cultural issues posed by the Russian Revolution and its degeneration into the Stalin dictatorship. Their work focused on the centrality of questions of significance in social life in general and artistic creation in particular, examining the way in which language registered the conflicts between social groups. The key views of the circle are that linguistic production is essentially dialogic, formed in the process of social interaction, and that this leads to the interaction of different social values being registered in terms of reaccentuation of the speech of others. While the ruling stratum tries to posit a single discourse as exemplary, the subordinate classes are inclined to subvert this monologic closure. In the sphere of literature, poetry and epics represent the centripetal forces within the cultural arena whereas the novel is the structurally elaborated expression of popular ideologiekritik, the radical criticism of society.
yes and no … i agree imposing monologic discourse assists in breaking down traditional relationships … with the state, religiion, and the family … and that subversion by subordinate classes assists to illuminate the change in discourse … but as the creative classes have been traditionally powerless … they remain vocal but impotent in the face of dramatic change …
but for genICT … we have the tools for monologic discourse … to operate parallel to that sanctioned by the state, by the church, and by authoritarian rule (eg the royal families) …
the difficultly for me is how to incentivise participation by the creative class … ask any bricks and mortar university – harnessing knowmads or subject matter experts … is like hurding cats …
Paul Ransfield
14/02/2012 at 17:27