Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Mikhail Bakhtin has been recognised as an influential scholar, theorist and writer in the fields of cultural studies, literary criticism and sociology. However, it is only in the past few years the role of literary theory has been brought into sharp focus in International Relations theory. As such, this chapter seeks to sketch out the possibilities of reading IR through a Bakhtinian lens. In this way, this paper will offer a detailed outline of a possible framework to use Bakhtin for developing a processual view of international relations, a dialogical approach to it. Most IR theory is substantialist at its core and Bakhtin is a powerful heuristic to develop a perspective avoiding pitfalls such as essentialism or reification. To illustrate this, the paper will explore the way IR theory has been treating notions like ?identity? and ?alterity?; it will thus also tackle the place of dialogue in social theory as a processual approach to the nexus between identity and alterity can be said to resemble but not to be like an actual dialogue, a conversation.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: When a person’s ability to communicate is impaired by an illness or injury, members of that patient’s social network deal with a complex array of issues. This paper employs a Bakhtinian analysis of two case studies based on qualitative interviews to understand how relatives invoke the voice of a loved one whose literal voice has been lost. The paper concludes with recommendations for additional research exploring this unique health context.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Dialogic theories by Martin Buber and Mikhail Bakhtin have crossed many disciplines in the human sciences and may seem to be “unconventional” combination to some academics. Unarguably, these philosophers have grown the field of communication through their dialogic thought. But more important than their individual discussions of dialogic theories is their mutual belief in meaning as occurring between the Self and the Other, rather than in the actual meeting itself.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: In Dialogic Imagination, Bakhtin argues that as an “extra-artistic prose,” rhetoric historically played a significant role in giving rise to the novelistic genre. The most important underlying issue is not just the change of a generic “regime,” but the gradual awakening of individual human consciousness and their sense of self identity, both in real life and in verbal representation of that life.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper examines the applicability of Michail Bakhtin’s theory of carnival as a tool of rhetorical criticism and analysis of political discourse in modern democracies. The paper critiques James Janack’s portrayal of Vladimir Zhirinovsky as a carnivalistic candidate of the early 1990s and attempts to explain Mr. Zhirinovsky’s continued popularity. This analysis leads to the conclusion that Bakhtin’s theory of carnival is largely inapplicable to modern democratic politics.