Fruitful Inspiration: Fresh View on Bakhtinian Dialogism in Some Fields of the Humanities

A review of Matthias Freise (ed.), 2018., Inspired by Bakhtin: Dialogic Methods in the Humanities, Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2018. This review provides an analysis of a collection of articles that demonstrate the possibilities of applying dialogic methods in various fields of the humanities. The authors of these articles show how Bakhtinian dialogism functions in the history and theory of literature, sociology and design, in the study of Platonic dialogues, the image of the Other in contemporary cinema and in the practice of psychoanalysis. The reviewers emphasize that the book fits well with the Bakhtin Studies trend. The dialogical approach to the phenomena of human consciousness allows a new research paradigm that differs from the natural sciences. The emphasis should be placed on the internal relations among the objects of the humanities research. The latter should be considered as a form of dialogue and described within the framework of dialogic methods. Each of the authors gives their own answer to the questions formulated by M. Freise: “How can we define a dialogic method of research in the humanities in general, what would be the specific qualities of such a method?” As a result, reviewers believe, a convincing picture of the internal dialogism of the humanities is constructed in the book. Despite the fact that special articles on the dialogic method in pedagogy are not included in the book, reviewers believe that the book will be useful for theorists and practitioners of education

The Alien City chronotope within the scope of Toni Morrison’s Jazz

The research observes the representation of the alien city chronotope in Jazz (1992) by a contemporary American writer Toni Morrison. The narration of the novel occurs in Harlem (New York) in the 1920-s, however, because most characters’ identities originate in the mid-19th-century American South, time and space frames extend. Focusing on the city space in the novel Jazz we regard the city as a social and cultural phenomenon of America, an independent live character that enters into a dialogue with the novel’s protagonists and, at the same time, contributes to their alienation within its frames. Harlem of 1920s functions not only as sociohistorical background but also as a unique narrator that relates the urban experience of African- Americans. We deduce that the chronotope exhibited in the novel in question combines several places and embodies narration about protagonists’ roots, their original habitat and a new conflicting environment that both attracts and repels them. The intrinsic ties of time and space in the literary work discussed in the article are presented on the level of the city, which represents alien and fragmentized reality. Thus we are convinced that the alien city chronotope in the novel is shaped by the opposition of ethnic and cultural identities of characters within their changing world. The characters’ illusions and aspirations are guided by the dubious and forceful voice of the city and none of the protagonists is able to escape the traumatic labyrinth of time and space tracing their memory

THE MISTY WORLDS OF ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

Abstract: Arthur Conan Doyle’s interest in spiritualism and all kind of natural mysteries of the material world is well known. The paper aims to trace how the writer’s devotion was reflected in his works of fiction. Conan Doyle tried to depict ghosts and spirits in many of his writings, basing the images on his own experience, evidences of other people and, obviously, imagination. The paper traces how the genre form can influence the imagery. It is shown that Doyle demonstrated different approaches in his writings concerning the supernatural phenomena. The close interlacing of the Gothic elements with pragmatic scientific approach of the author form strong artistic effect. His mystical stories of the 1890-1910s leave place for the reader's imagination even when they give rational explanation of the strangeevents and thus they can be defined as typically neo-romantic in their origin. The naturalistic description of paranormal phenomena in The Land of Mist aimed to prove their reality makes the miracles look fake and ridiculous. Doyle’s attempt to use the form of the adventure novel and familiar popular characters to show his readership the importance and beauty of Spiritualism failed. The novel turned into a manifesto of spiritualism.Keywords: English literature, Arthur Conan Doyle, short stories, The Land of Mist, Spiritualism, spirits,Victorian Gothic

Education-for-Myself and Education-for-the Other: The Right to Freedom of Education and Mikhail Bakhtin’s Experience

The article contains reflections on the problem which has arised in Eugene Matusov's article on freedom of education, and considers the experience of Mikhail Bakhtin as an example of the way the right to the freedom can be fulfilled. Not only Bakhtin's life and ideas play a significant role in contemporary social and educational theories and practices, but they reveal how education becomes a result of selection of particular knowledge and one's conscious choice. The core of the article is a correlation of notions “Education-for-myself” and “Education-for-the other” which are taken by the authors as derivatives of the terms of Bakhtin’s early philosophy “I-for-myself” and “I-for-the other”. Thus ideas of “Education-for-an individual” and “Education-for-the society” result from the reflections and can be evidence of the need in mutual understanding and dialogue in order to achieve freedom of education

Ken Hirschkop’s “new Bakhtin” for the English-speaking students

A review of Hirschkop K. The Cambridge Introduction to Mikhail Bakhtin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021.  xvi, 250 p. (Cambridge Introductions to Literature). Speaking today about the importance of Mikhail Bakhtin's ideas for the humanities is restating the obvious. The book by the renowned Canadian literary and cultural studies scholar Professor K. Hirschkop, The Cambridge Introduction to Mikhail Bakhtin (2021), aims at a systematic description of M.M. Bakhtin's scholarly legacy for the English-speaking reader, primarily for students. In our view, in this edition, the author solves both the traditional tasks of a textbook-reference book, written in the genre of "Introduction," and the research tasks. The Russian thinker's theory and practice analysis is presented based on the texts of his Collected Works, which, according to Hirschkop, form an image of a "new" Bakhtin. The tried and tested scheme of the Cambridge Introduction enables the author to draw a concise sketch of the scholar's life, outline the main sources and contexts of his scholarly quest, analyze key ideas and works, and describe the process of Bakhtin’s reception in the English-speaking world

Methodological principles of the organization of reengineering in construction (capital construction facility reengineering and technological process reengineering)

As practice shows, in conditions of crisis organizational problems and development issues, when accumulated contradictions lead to the competitiveness decline and loss of consumers, it is proposed an application of methods of reengineering, implementing turning around enterprises, organizations, companies through moving to a new quality level and modernization of the previously implemented engineering solutions of the functioning facility. The goal of the work is to find organizational forms of quality transformation of the solutions, having an anthropotechnical genesis (technical, technological, organizational, managerial etc.) through capital construction facility reengineering and technological process reengineering solutions. Literature sources and current construction standards analysis is carried out to implement the goal. Methods of the system analysis and management, comparison, expert evaluation are used. General definitions of the reengineering from Russian and foreign sources are given in the article. Criteria and factors of the reengineering events classification at the «construction facility – construction site» level are justified, the project of capital construction facility and technological process reengineering is set out, the capital construction facility reengineering structure is described, pattern solutions of the capital construction facility reengineering are formed, distribution of the reengineering types according to the stages of the life circle of the capital construction facility is presented. The structure of the capital construction facility reengineering standards is given and perspective directions of the information and analytical support development are indicated in the article. In the conclusion the fact, that reengineering is an effective mechanism of forming a comfort living environment, is justified based on the science and technology achievements, customer inquiry and most complete satisfaction, as well as the creation of the competitive edge of not only separate domestic construction organizations, but also the whole national construction field