Speaking of Bakhtin: A study of the sociolinguistic discourse on Bakhtin and language by Michael Edward Volek A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (English) The University of British Columbia (Vancouver) September 2014 © Michael Edward Volek, 2014 ABSTRACT Thirty years after Mikhail Bakhtin came to the attention of the English-speaking world with Emerson & Holquist’s translation of The Dialogic Imagination, he continues to hold a prominent place in the scholarly fancy – particularly among those concerned with the sociality of language. But what have we learned from Bakhtin during this time? How has the “Bakhtinian perspective” contributed to the way researchers study and interpret linguistic phenomena? And more importantly, what can we learn about the sociality of language from the way Bakhtin has been taken up in the scholarly discourse? These questions are addressed in the present study by comparing Bakhtin’s discourse (as it has been received) with the uptake of his theory in a selection of five peer-reviewed journals published between the years 2000 and 2011. Seven of the most commonly cited topics are examined in detail: (1) genre, (2) hybridization, (3) style & stylization, (4) double-voicing, (5) heteroglossia, (6) linguistic stratification & centralization, and (7) authority. The surprising conclusion is that Bakhtin has had relatively little influence on the way these ideas are understood, even when he is cited as their source or inspiration, and that he is frequently invoked in support of views that he argues vigorously against. This disagreement is explained not as a breakdown of communication (in the structural sense), but – in line with Bakhtin’s own observations about the nature of discourse – as a product of the sociality of language, in which the histories and concerns of his interpreters actively shape the meanings they take him to be offering. The scholarly discourse on Bakhtin becomes a case study for the very phenomena Bakhtin describes. It reveals that even avowedly “social” language research continues to reflect what Bakhtin calls “the centralizing tendencies in the life of language”. In particular, it reveals the enduring influence of Saussure and semiotic theory at the expense of the genuinely social model that Bakhtin consistently articulates. It consequently provides the occasion for a critique of the uptake and reproduction of theory in the “softer” social sciences, calling into question the adequacy of scholarly conventions in the face of socio-linguistic reality. ii PREFACE This dissertation is an original, unpublished, independent work by the author, Michael E. Volek. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... ii Preface ..................................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements.................................................................................................................. vi 1. Introduction........................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Aims and Objectives ..................................................................................................... 23 1.3 Methodology ................................................................................................................. 24 2. Genre................................................................................................................................... 38 2.1 The Scholarly Discourse on Genre ............................................................................... 38 2.2 The Bakhtinian Discourse on Genre ............................................................................. 56 2.3 Observations on Genre in the Literature ....................................................................... 67 3. Hybridization ...................................................................................................................... 75 3.1 The Scholarly Discourse on Hybridization................................................................... 75 3.2 The Bakhtinian Discourse on Hybridization ................................................................ 81 3.3 Observations on Hybridization in the Literature .......................................................... 88 4. Style & Stylization .............................................................................................................. 97 4.1 Review of the Literature on Style & Stylization .......................................................... 98 4.2 The Bakhtinian Discourse on Style & Stylization ...................................................... 109 4.3 Observations on Style & Stylization in the Literature ................................................ 117 5. Double-voiced Discourse ................................................................................................. 126 5.1 The Scholarly Discourse on Double-voiced Discourse .............................................. 127 5.2 The Bakhtinian Discourse on Double-voiced Discourse ............................................ 142 5.3 Observations on Double-voiced Discourse in the Literature ...................................... 149 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONTINUED) 6. Heteroglossia .................................................................................................................... 162 6.1 The Scholarly Discourse on Heteroglossia ................................................................. 162 6.2 The Bakhtinian Discourse on Heteroglossia .............................................................. 174 6.3 Observations on Heteroglossia in the Literature ........................................................ 185 7. Centripetal & Centrifugal Forces of Language ................................................................ 191 7.1 The Scholarly Discourse on Centripetal & Centrifugal Forces .................................. 192 7.2 The Bakhtinian Discourse on Centripetal & Centrifugal Forces ................................ 198 7.3 Observations on the Centripetal & Centrifugal Forces in the Literature .................... 208 8. Authoritative & Internally Persuasive Discourse ............................................................. 217 8.1 The Scholarly Discourse on Authoritative & Internally Persuasive Speech .............. 218 8.2 The Bakhtinian Discourse on Authoritative & Internally Persuasive Speech ............ 228 8.3 Observations on Authoritative & Internally Persuasive Discourse in the Literature . 238 9. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 252 9.1 Bakhtin the Structuralist? ........................................................................................... 257 9.2 Bakhtin the Sociolinguist ............................................................................................ 267 References............................................................................................................................. 275 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project would not have been possible without the help of many supporters. I would like to begin by acknowledging the enormous contribution of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, which provided both a financial lifeline and a vote of confidence in my work. I would also like to acknowledge the faculty and staff at UBC’s Department of English, who made a place for me in their community and set a standard of dedication and professionalism that I can only hope to emulate. Above all, I want to thank my supervisor, Dr. Janet Giltrow, whose intellectual brilliance and common sense are matched by a rare generosity of spirit. In Dr. Giltrow I felt I had not only a mentor but an ally. Thanks also to Drs. Natasha Rulyova and Christopher Mole for sitting on my committee and sharing their valuable expertise, and to Drs. Miranda Burgess and Jennifer Vadeboncoeur for reading my manuscript and asking the questions that needed to be asked. I am grateful to the Program Manager, Louise Soga, for soothing my worries and sorting me out as required; to my colleague, Christen Rachul, for wading through a messy, early draft of my thesis and sharing her views; and to the faculty and staff at Carleton’s School of Linguistics and Applied Language studies, who set me on this path, especially Dr. Natasha Artemeva, whose enthusiasm and encouragement helped carry me to the finish. A special thanks to my family and friends, for whom this changes nothing. And to Mitsuko, the only one I could never do without. vi [1] INTRODUCTION 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background This project has evolved in many ways since it was first conceived; while the goal has never changed – to understand the functioning of language in a socially relevant discourse – the discourse on climate change, for instance, or the discourse on aging and dying – in the end, it became something a little more reflexive: an examination of the discourse on