Literature as Communication and Cognition in Bakhtin and Lotman

This title, first published in 1990, argues for the existence of a significant connection between the theories of literature and culture of Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakhtin (1895-1975) and Iurii Mikhailovich Lotman (1922-1993). There is general agreement in the academic or scholarly community that there is such a connection; however, it is generally held to refer to Bakhtin’s influence on Lotman which he expressed late in his life. The major aim of this study, meanwhile, is to demonstrate that the critical theories of Lotman and Bakhtin are highly compatible independent of and prior to any direct influence. This title will be of interest to students of literature and literary theory.