Religion in the Thought of Mikhail Bakhtin

Dr Bagshaw has recently completed her doctoral thesis at the University of Sheffield’s Bakhtin Centre. Her Master’s degree was in Oriental and African Religions at SOAS, where she was introduced to Bakhtin’s ideas and developed her interest in methodology in the study of religion.

• Abbreviations for Bakhtin’s Works; Foreword, James L. Cox; Preface; Chapter 1 Introduction; Chapter 2 Themes from Philosophy of Religion; Chapter 3 Myth, Religion and Language; Chapter 4 The History of Genre and the Secularization of Literature; Chapter 5 Carnival and Carnivalesque Literature; Chapter 6 Can Bakhtin’s Work Be Applied to the Study of Religion?; Chapter 7 Outsideness; Chapter 8 Conclusion;

’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 Bagshaw’s work.’ Graham Pechey, University of Cambridge, UK '... offers readers a thoughtful, well-researched, and illuminating account of a Bakhtin we have not previously encountered.' Russian Review ’Many readers will find much of value in Hilary Bagshaw’s interesting book, which shows a real appreciation of Bakhtin’s thought. It is carefully composed throughout and draws together a wide range of sources. The student of Bakhtin requires a diversity of approaches to draw close to him, and this book will be a contribution to the field.’ Journal of Religious Studies ’[Bagshaw’s] study is thoroughly researched and advances insight into which intellectual movements and schools informed the development of Bakhtin’s key ideas.’ Theologische Literaturzeitung