What core principles underlie Mikhail Bakhtin’s philosophy of language?
Show answer Hide answer
Answer: C. Language exhibits and is bound up in the social lives and historical context of the people who speak it.
Explanation
Mikhail Bakhtin argued that language is inherently social, dialogic, and deeply embedded within historical contexts. Words carry the accumulated cultural interactions, social lives, and historical experiences of the people speaking them. Language functions as a living medium shaped by constant interaction among diverse groups within society. Bakhtin was a prominent Russian philosopher and literary theorist whose work revolutionized modern linguistics and criticism. He introduced key concepts such as dialogism, heteroglossia, and carnivalization to analyze novelistic discourse. His theories emphasize that no utterance is neutral, as every word is populated with the intentions of others.
Option A is too narrow because dialects are only one component of his comprehensive philosophy of language. Option B focuses solely on historical contradictions, missing the broader social and dialogic nature of speech. Option D describes only a single aspect of utterance, whereas Option C encompasses the full social and historical context.
- Subject
- English
- Category
- English Literature
- Topic
- —
- Difficulty
- medium
Related questions
Q1. What statement accurately describes the historical role of the “British East India Company?”
Show answer Hide answer
Answer: A. The British East India Company was originally a group of London businessmen engaged in importing spices from South Asia.
The British East India Company began as a joint-stock venture formed by London merchants to trade in Asian spices. The correct option accurately describes its humble commercial origins before it evolved into a massive im...
Q2. How did the early monks shape the future course of medieval church life?
Show answer Hide answer
Answer: D. All of these answers
Early Christian monks established rigorous spiritual disciplines that fundamentally reshaped communal organization and medieval church life. Monastic leaders pursued deeply ascetic lives that inspired others to move beyo...
Q3. What description best fits the protagonist Catherine Moreland in Jane Austen’s “Northanger Abbey”?
Show answer Hide answer
Answer: D. B and C
Catherine Morland begins the novel as a naive young woman who struggles to separate gothic tropes from reality. Her excessive reading of sensational gothic novels leads her to misinterpret ordinary people and mundane sit...
Q4. What is the central theme conveyed in William Wordsworth’s poem “Tintern Abbey”?
Show answer Hide answer
Answer: B. Sensitivity to nature’s message comes with age.
Wordsworth's poem traces how his emotional and spiritual connection to nature matured and deepened with age. The speaker reflects on how youthful passion for natural scenery evolves into a more profound philosophical app...
Q5. What statement best captures the primary argument put forward by John Milton in book 9 of Paradise Lost?
Show answer Hide answer
Answer: B. The fall of Adam and Eve was a tragic event.
Milton depicts the transgression of Adam and Eve as a profound moral failure with devastating consequences for humanity. The narrative of Book 9 centers on the temptation and subsequent fall from grace within the garden...
Q6. What is the chief objective behind the critical approach known as New Historicism?
Show answer Hide answer
Answer: C. Texts are examined to determine how they reveal social realities.
New Historicism examines literary texts alongside non-literary historical documents to understand cultural power dynamics. This critical approach views literature not as an isolated artifact, but as an active participant...