Bakhtin Polyphonic Novel Theory And Related Text Criticism

As one of the influential literary critics in the contemporary literature review, Bakhtin enjoys a high prestige in the modern world literature. His critic talents were reflected by his review on the novels of Dostoyevsky, a Russian novelist of the 19th century. Through the in-depth analysis of Dostoyevsky's novels, Bakhtin holds the view that that dominates the main features of Dostoyevsky's novels is the so-called dual themes. To further explain the features of the dual-theme novels, Bakhtin introduced a new term in his Dual-Theme Theory, the Dialogue.Explanations about Dialogue can be regarded as the main content of Bakhti's Dual-Theme Theory. In his viewpoint, one of the main features of the Dual-Theme Novel is the lack of authority, that is to say, there is not such a dominating idea of social value that is superior than the viewpoints of each character within the novel. The idea of the novelist him/herself does not influence the thinking of the heroes of the novel. In a dual-theme novel, each character is a living and independent individual who is not influenced by others, including the novelist him/herself. Their existence and thinking are completely self-controlled. Therefore, the novels under such a lack of authority are features by the following: firstly, the relationship of the dialogue between the novelist and the characters within the novel is equal. The though of the novelist does not assert any influence upon the characters who are completely independent in thinking; secondly, the relationship between the characters within the novel is also equal, with each character completely independent from others and is not likely to be influenced by the opinions of other characters. It is due to these specific characteristics of the dual-theme novels that the dialogues of these novels are vivid and colorful.The so-called Dual-Theme Novel is the opposite concept of the traditional Monologue Novel, which refers to the lack of dialogue and authentic exchange between the author and the heroes of the novel. In the Monologue Novels, the thinking of the characters is completely influenced and even controlled by the author him/herself. In the meanwhile, the Monologue novels strictly observes the chronological and logical order of the events and is thus limited by the logic structure. However, since the dual-theme novels successfully break through such a limitation, it can enjoy more freedom of expression. For example, the application of montage and call backs greatly makes the dialogue more convenient and in-depth.This dissertation, based on the analysis of Bakhtin's theory and the masterpieces of Dostoyevsky (including Crime and Punishment, the Idiot, Notes from Underground), concluded that Bakhtin's Dual-Theme Theory is an effective critical theory in analyzing Dostoyevsky's novels.