Abstract
In his article Freedom of Interpretation: Bakhtin and the Challenge of Feminist Criticism (Critical Inquiry 9 [September 1982]: 45-76), Wayne Booth develops an argument for literary criticism, criticism that is concerned with the ideologies inherent in works of literature and the effects these ideologies may have on the reader. Or, as he phrases it himself: What we are talking about [is] human ideals, how they are created in art and thus implanted in readers and left uncriticized (p. 65). Booth's starting point, his inspiration for this argument, is Mikhail Bakhtin's notion of dialogism and, in particular, Bakhtin's use of this notion in his interpretation of Franqois Rabelais' Gargantua and Pantagruel narratives.' For those not familiar with Booth's essay (and/or Bakhtin's interpretation), I will briefly summarize his argument in support of ethical criticism.
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