Principle of dialogue in Mikhail Bakhtin’s poetics

Abstract

Mikhail Bakhtin (1895 - 1975) had a great influence on the history of modern poetics in the world. From the 1980s onwards, the adoption of Bakhtin's poetics was of great significance, contributing to the development of poetics in Vietnam in nearly four decades. One of the essential foundations for his theory is the principle of dialogue. However, applying the principle of dialogue in a systematic relationship with Bakhtin's academic legacy, especially its relation to the principle of carnaval, has
never become easy for a consensus. The duty of this essay is to analyze the principle of dialogue in a systematic view. Dialogue is first a linguistic principle proposed on the basis of counter-argument of the linguistic theory of F.D. Saussure. The carnaval principle is a cultural basis for applying the principle of dialogue into the study of literature. By connecting these two principles to a system, Bakhtin wanted to promote the study of literature to cultural poetics. Applying the principle of dialogue for study Dostoievski's work, he discovered the kind of novel that had never appeared before: polyphonic novel. This type of novel contains a new structure in the relationship between the author and the character, and if not based on the principle of dialogue, it is difficult to understand its full value.