Hilary B P Bagshaw - Religion in the Thought of Mikhail Bakhtin: Reason and Faith

RELIGION IN THE THOUGHT OF MIKHAIL BAKHTIN

This book examines the significance of religion in the work of the twentieth-century philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin. Exploring Bakhtins contribution to debates on methodology in the study of religion, this book argues that his use of religious terminology is derived from his source material in philosophy of religion and not from his confessional commitment to Russian Orthodox Christianity. Critiquing Gavin Floods important work Beyond Phenomenology, Hilary Bagshaw explains how Bakhtins work on outsideness presents invaluable insights for scholars of religion, particularly pertinent to the contemporary insider/outsider debate.

Hilary Bagshaw has undertaken two somewhat daunting tasks: first, establishing the originality of Mikhail Bakhtin in relation to his philosophical sources; secondly, finely calibrating how far this surplus of novelty could help to resolve the dialectic of inside and outside views in the academic study of religion. As she drives towards her highly focused and convincing conclusion, so we find Bakhtin growing beyond the Bakhtin we thought we knew and speaking to us afresh. Bakhtin scholars no less than students of religion will greatly benefit from Bagshaws work.

Graham Pechey, University of Cambridge, UK

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Reason and Faith

HILARY B.P. BAGSHAW
University of Sheffield, UK

ASHGATE

Hilary B.P. Bagshaw 2013

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.

Hilary B.P. Bagshaw has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Bagshaw, Hilary B. P.

Religion in the thought of Mikhail Bakhtin : reason and faith. (Ashgate new critical thinking in religion, theology and biblical studies)
1. Bakhtin, M. M. (Mikhail Mikhailovich), 1895-1975. 2. Bakhtin, M. M. (Mikhail Mikhailovich), 1895-1975Religion. 3. Philosophy and religion. 4. Religion Methodology. 5. Flood, Gavin D., 1954- Beyond phenomenology.
I. Title II. Series
197-dc23

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bagshaw, Hilary B.P.

Religion in the thought of Mikhail Bakhtin : reason and faith / by Hilary B.P. Bagshaw.

p. cm. (New critical thinking in religion, theology, and Biblical studies)

Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4094-6240-8 ISBN 978-1-4094-6241-5 (ebook)

1. Bakhtin, M. M. (Mikhail Mikhailovich), 1895-1975Religion. I. Title.

PG2947.B3B34 2013

801'.95092dc23

ISBN 9781409462408 (hbk)
ISBN 9781409462415 (ebk PDF)
ISBN 9781409462422 (ebk ePUB)

Printed and bound in Great Britain by the MPG Books Group, UK.

James L. Cox, Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies, University of Edinburgh

In Reason and Faith, Hilary Bagshaw examines the role of religion in the thought of the Russian philosopher of language and literary theorist, Mikhail Bakhtin (18951975). Bakhtin came to the attention of Western scholars relatively late, in the words of David Danow, having emerged in recent decades from virtual obscurity to remarkable prominence as theorist of literature, language, and interpersonal relations (Danow, 1991: 3). Bagshaw produces a lucid account of Bakhtins contribution not only to literary theory by discussing his analysis of writers such as Rabelais, Goethe and Dostoevsky, but also asks if Bakhtin was writing as a committed Christian and thus as a surreptitious theologian. Bagshaws conclusion that Bakhtin used the language of theology metaphorically rather than as an avenue for promoting Christian faith is convincing. It is clear that Bakhtin drew on his background in the Russian Orthodox tradition to interpret literary themes, such as the role of the artist and hero and the nature of carnival in narrative traditions. Yet, this is not the whole picture, as Bagshaw makes clear. The philosophical influences were paramount, firstly from neo-Kantian sources, but also from phenomenology influenced by the German philosophers Edmund Husserl and Max Scheler, precisely around ideas of intersubjectivity and empathy. By the time we have reached the end of , we have been led convincingly to the conclusion that Bakhtin approached Christianity through the lens of the philosophy of religion rather than confessional theology.

Bakhtin has been brought to the attention of students of religion by the scholar of Hinduism, Gavin Flood, through his highly regarded and influential book, Beyond Phenomenology, published in 1999. Floods work was written at a time when critics of the phenomenological method in the study of religion were mounting sustained attacks on its underlying assumptions. From the time the Dutch phenomenologist Gerardus van der Leeuw published his landmark volume,