Sućeska, Alen
A Gramscian reading of language in Bakhtin and Voloshinov
Both Bakhtin and Voloshinov were very keen to show that language is socially stratified and that this stratification corresponds in form to the stratification between social groups or classes. Through a comparative analysis of their concepts such as 'speech genres'/'behavioural genres', 'heteroglossia'/'multiaccentuality', 'refraction' etc, this paper will aim to show how both of the authors offer a convincing theoretical framework for a social and historical approach to language which stresses its class character. It is exclusively through such an approach that a coherent 'Marxist' account of language can be developed, both contrary to vulgar Marxism which sees language as a simple 'reflection' of reality and to the mainstream linguistics which tends to abstract from these social aspects of language. However, it will be argued that Bakhtin's and Voloshinov's works also have their limitations, and that, in order to develop a coherent and rigorous Marxist account of language, it is necessary to move beyond them towards authors which link language to politics, such as, to a certain extent, Marx himself, or, to a much greater extent, Antonio Gramsci.
in "Special issue "Language Sciences", Karl Marx and the Language Sciences - Critical Encounters", edited by Peter E. Jones
| Language | eng |
| Names |
[author] Sućeska, Alen |
| Subjects |
Egemonia
Voloshinov, Valentin N. Bakhtin, Mikhail
Hegemony
Voloshinov, Valentin N. Bakhtin, Mikhail |
