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Bakhtinian Theory BALTIC 45 W balticworlds.com Bakhtinian theory The postcolonial & postsocialist perspective Baltic Worlds’ special section Guest editors: Yulia Gradskova BALTIC & Paromita Chakrabarti WORLDS Illustration: Ragni Svensson Special section 1–2/2017 Introduction: Bakhtin and the postcolonial he 15th International Bakhtin and analyses of contemporary political and communication. The editors invited conference was held at the Roy- movements and social transformations. contributors to explore the complexities al Institute of Art in Stockholm Bakhtin’s work describes certain impor- of the postcolonial and postsocialist space T on July 23 to 27, 2014. Titled tant facets of the operation of authority by using Bakhtinian ideas and theories as “Bakhtin as Praxis: Academic Production, and violence in culture and the ways in a critical starting point for the develop- Artistic Practice, Political Activism”, it which such forces may be opposed and ment of an adequate methodology. brought together several hundred re- undermined. The critical traction of cat- The theme this special section — searchers from across the globe. The dis- egories such as dialogism and carnival de- “Bakhtinian theory in postcolonial and cussions at the conference revealed the rives from this analysis, but such catego- postsocialist perspective” — is a recognition enduring relevance of “the ideas of what ries are often employed in a mechanical of the popularity of the Bakhtinian perspec- is known as the Bakhtin Circle” not only fashion or too loosely. Instead, Bakhtinian tive across the world and an opportunity in the field of literary criticism, but also in ideas need to be specified and developed to contribute to a current discussion on a variety of other disciplines of the social in order to realize their potential for post- similarities and differences between the sciences and humanities. The keynote colonial and postsocialist studies, provid- postcolonial and the postsocialist. speakers included Professors Caryl Em- ing a starting point for the development As editors of this section, we represent erson, Augusto Ponzio, Sergei Bocharov, of critical categories suitable for certain two areas of inquiry: postcolonial and and Galin Tihanov. types of analysis. This, however, requires postsocialist studies. Our coming together Some of the deliberations at the con- that the ideas be examined and possibly on this is symbolic of shared cross-cultur- ference clearly emphasized the need to revised or even rejected. What is required al communication. In Bakhtinian terms, reexamine Bakhtinian categories through is a critical engagement with Bakhtinian this transnational, transcontinental effort the lens of postcolonial and postsocialist ideas, rather than oversimplified or rev- of bringing together two varied perspec- concerns. Thus, this special section of erential applications of the concepts, in tives through multiple voices is represen- Baltic Worlds is the result of the separate order to critique the structures of oppres- tative of what scholars would define as call for papers on “Bakhtinian Theory in sion, expose the multilayered nodes of dialogism. Postcolonial and Postsocialist Perspec- contact that we have with each other and The special section starts with a round- tive” launched in the fall of 2015. The call with ourselves, and transcend the narrow table discussion of the Bakhtinian legacy for papers invited further reflection on national traditions that we are bound by by the leading specialists in the field. We the Bakhtinian legacy. or struggle to escape. interviewed Professors Ken Hirschkop, This special section is important in Craig Brandist, Caryl Emerson, Lakshmi the context of a furiously changing and THIS SPECIAL SECTION of the Baltic Worlds Bandlamudi, and Galin Tihanov. The increasingly polarized world. Bakhtin- is an attempt to present some of the many interview questions focused on the way ian concepts have proven time and again topics discussed at the conference. At the Bakhtin and his influence permeate our to be productive in explaining the ways same time, it is a bid to follow Bakhtinian readings of the postcolonial and postso- in which social, political, and cultural theory: in particular, his understanding cialist, his enduring legacy, and how his forces intersect and affect each other, of the processes of thought, speech acts, theories can be applied to arrive at a more particularly during periods of transition. nuanced understanding of our immediate Such transitions could include colonial “THIS SPECIAL history and contemporary life. struggles for independence, the right to The full-length articles in this special self-determination of oppressed popula- SECTION IS section include contributions by Viktoriya tions, the disintegration of the state and IMPORTANT IN Sukovata, Paromita Chakrabarti, Rajni its system of governance, large scale mi- Mujral, and Per-Arne Bodin. In one way gration, and the rise in racial, ethnic, and THE CONTEXT or another, all the contributors deal with communal conflicts. OF A FURIOUSLY Bakhtinian theory and, at the same time, Suitably developed and modified, discuss the complexities of the postcolo- Bakhtinian ideas have the potential to CHANGING AND nial and/or postsocialist space. expand and enrich our understanding INCREASINGLY The article by Sukovata titled “Ukrai- POLARIZED WORLD.” introduction 47 & postsocialist perspective nian Popular Culture in the Context of the grotesque body in constituting the M. Bakhtin’s Philosophy of Laughter site of the comic and carnivalesque in In- and Postcolonial Perspective” is a study dian comic tradition. She aims to explore of Ukrainian popular culture explored the comic tradition in Indian Sanskrit through the lens of the Bakhtinian theory literature by studying Hasyarnava. She of laughter. In particular, Sukovata ex- elaborates on how the distorted, de- plores carnivalesque elements of popular formed, and diseased body institute the talk-shows and artistic performances in carnivalesque discoursively. the context of anticolonial protest against Soviet/Russian cultural domination. FINALLY, THE ARTICLE “Witchhunt in North- Stressing the important role of laughter ern Sweden: A Bakhtinian approach” by for the return of dignity in the situation Bodin deals with the Swedish history of of postsocialist insecurity and cultural the witch trials in Ångermanland , North- contents th hybridity, she also states therapeutic ern Sweden in the 17 century. Using a interview functions of laughter as a part of the mul- Bakhtinian approach, but also Sergei 48 A Discussion on the Bakhtin circle ticulturalism of Ukrainian society. Averintsev’s ideas on connections be- peer-review articles tween laughter and fear, Bodin attempts 57 Ukrainian popular culture: In the CHAKRABARTI’S “Crisis of the Responsible to answer the question about the reasons context of Bakhtin’s philosophy Word: Bakhtin, Dialogism and the Post- for witch trials. Exploring the relation- of laughter and the postcolonial colonial Memoir” reconsiders notions ships between laughter and the reverse perspective, Viktoriya Sukovata of narrative liminality and interruptive culture, Bodin comes to the conclusion 66 The grotesque body in Indian comic dialogism in the reading of the postcolo- that these relationships can be very com- tradition: An aesthetic of transgression, nial memoir. Juxtaposing the postcolonial plex while the reverse culture might be Rajni Mujral in-betweenness of critical discourse with connected to violence and fear, not only 73 Witchhunt in northern Sweden: A Mikhail Bakhtin’s idea of hybridized, to laughter. ≈ Bakhtinian approach, Per-Arne Bodin collusive and hidden dialogicality, the 82 Crisis of the responsible word: Bakhtin, postcolonial memoir can be read as the Yulia Gradskova dialogism and the postcolonial memoir, self’s mapping of a paradigm shift in con- Paromita Chakrabarti Paromita Chakrabarti temporary times. Chakrabarti undertakes 90 Up-coming workshop a Bakhtinian analysis of the South Asian- American diasporic writer Meena Alex- ander’s 1993 Fault Lines: A Memoir and the revised 2003 version. Situating them as centripetal and centrifugal texts that literature operate in simultaneity and in constantly Mikhail Bakhtin, Tvorchestvo François Rabelais shifting moments of utterance, her study i narodnaia kultura Srednevekovia i Renessansa. cautions us to take account of the painful Moscow, 1990. Published in English as: unreliability of the authorial and narra- Rabelais and His World, trans. Hélène Iswolsky, tive voices, the collision of history and Bloomington, IN, 1984. memory, the deeply ambiguous contours Sharad Chari and Katherine Verdery, “Thinking of language and discursive representa- between the Posts: Postcolonialism, Postsocialism, and Ethnography after the Cold War”, in tion, and the limits of the postcolonial Comparative Studies in Society and History, 51, no. hybrid self. 1 (2009), 6—34. Mujral’s “The Grotesque Body in Chioni David Moore,“Is the Post- in Postcolonial Indian Comic Tradition : An Aesthetic of the Post- in Post-Soviet?”, in PLMA, 116, no. 11 Transgression” engages with the role of (2001), 111—128. 48 interview A discussion on the aromita Chakrabarti and Yulia Gradskova discuss the Bakhtin Circle with five experts in the field: Caryl Emerson, university professor emeritus of Slavic languages and literatures, Princ- eton University; Lakshmi Bandlamudi, professor of psychology at LaGuardia Community College, City University of New York; Ken Hirschkop, professor of English at the
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