Mikhail Bakhtin as Rhetorical Theorist

Abstract

In Mikhail Bakhtin's terms, the hero is as potent a determinant in the rhetorical paradigm as speaker or listener. Bakhtin's paradigm, of course, is based on a dialogue between a speaker and a listener. Bakhtin's paradigm is a model of complex interaction. Worlds whirl within worlds in Bakhtin's circular—or is it spherical—rhetorical paradigm. Bakhtin is most concerned with sophisticated language use, with forms that convey multiple orientations and interpretations. Clearly, then, Bakhtin's ideas about language and aesthetics are reiterated by Robert Pirsig. Bakhtin's perspectives on language suggest an exciting new development for contemporary rhetorical theory. Most particularly, Bakhtin is concerned with interpretive doubling, with usages that exhibit twofold orientations, like parody and irony. Bakhtin's work represents a renewed effort to continue the kind of rhetorical tradition that Pirsig extols among the ancient sophists. For Pirsig, as for Bakhtin, Quality is possible only when traditional categorical distinctions are broken down, when classical and romantic conceptions of reality are fused.