A Bakhtinian Approach to the Visual Arts

A critical study of the theories of Russian literary critic and philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin (1895–1975), considering how his concepts can offer valuable new approaches to interpreting visual art. This work is the first to propose a cohesive methodology for applying Bakhtin’s thought to visual art, drawing on intermediary frameworks developed by Susanne Langer, Norman Bryson, Vygotsky, Pavel Florensky, Philip Rawson, Michael Baxandall, and Gilles Deleuze. Bakhtin’s philosophical and linguistic insights are examined in relation to works by Giotto, Riemenschneider, Velázquez, Cézanne, Picasso, Rauschenberg, Marlene Dumas, Bontecou, Caro, and Ghenie.