What is polyphony according to Bakhtin?

What is polyphony according to Bakhtin?

Polyphony literally means multiple voices. Bakhtin reads Dostoevsky’s work as containing many different voices, unmerged into a single perspective, and not subordinated to the voice of the author. Each of these voices has its own perspective, its own validity, and its own narrative weight within the novel.

What is heteroglossia?

Definition of heteroglossia : a diversity of voices, styles of discourse, or points of view in a literary work and especially a novel.

What is meant by Heteroglossia discuss in detail?

: a diversity of voices, styles of discourse, or points of view in a literary work and especially a novel.

What period is polyphony?

The Polyphonic Era is a term used since the mid-19th century to designate an historical period in which harmony in music is subordinate to polyphony (Frobenius 2001, §4). It generally refers to the period from the 13th to the 16th century (Kennedy 2006).

What does Bakhtin mean by heteroglossia and polyphony?

Heteroglossia (other-languagedness) and polyphony (many-voicedness) are the base conditions “governing the operation of meaning in any utterance.”[7] By “other-languagedness,” Bakhtin does not mean only national languages (though a national language determines, in part, the meaning of any utterance).

What does Mikhail Bakhtin mean by heteroglossia?

In order to explain the concept of dialogism, we first need to understand the latter term: “heteroglossia” refers to the circumstance that what we usually think of as a single, unitary language is actually comprised of a multiplicity of languages interacting with, and often ideologically competing with, one another.

What was Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of the novel?

He is perhaps best known for his radical philosophy of language, as well as his theory of the novel, underpinned by concepts such as “dialogism,” “polyphony,” and “carnival,” themselves resting on the more fundamental concept of “heteroglossia.”

What is the meaning of polyphony in Dostoevsky?

Polyphony literally means multiple voices. Bakhtin reads Dostoevsky’s work as containing many different voices, unmerged into a single perspective, and not subordinated to the voice of the author. Each of these voices has its own perspective, its own validity, and its own narrative weight within the novel.