Cover -- Half-title -- Series-title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Abbreviations -- Note on translation and citation -- CHAPTER 1 Introduction -- BAKHTIN'S RELIGIOUS BIOGRAPHY -- CRITICAL LITERATURE ON BAKHTIN AND THE QUESTION OF A CHRISTIAN READING -- Full-length works -- Related articles -- CHRISTIANITY IN BAKHTIN: GOD AND THE EXILED AUTHOR -- CHAPTER 2 Fall and Incarnation in 'Towards a Philosophy of the Act' -- TOWARDS A PHILOSOPHY OF THE ACT -- THE FALL IN BEING -- SALVATION THROUGH INCARNATION -- CONCLUSION -- CHAPTER 3 The aesthetic gospel of 'Author and Hero in Aesthetic Activity' -- THE CRITICAL RECEPTION OF 'AUTHOR AND HERO IN AESTHETIC ACTIVITY' -- GOD -- MAN -- FALL -- SALVATION -- INCARNATION -- NEW BIRTH -- ETERNAL LIFE -- FAITH, HOPE -- LOVE -- CONCLUSION -- CHAPTER 4 Was Bakhtin a Marxist?: The work of the Bakhtin Circle, 1924-1929 -- THE NATURE OF THE CRITICAL DEBATE ON AUTHORSHIP -- BASE AND SUPERSTRUCTURE -- IDEOLOGY -- MAN AND SOCIETY -- MATERIALISM -- HISTORICISM -- THE DIALECTICAL METHOD -- DIALECTIC VERSUS DIALOGIC -- CONCLUSION -- CHAPTER 5 Falling silent: the critical aesthetic of Problems of Dostoevsky's Creative Work -- MONOLOGISM AND ITS IMPLICATIONS: THE FALL MOTIF IN DOSTOEVSKY'S CREATIVE WORK -- POLYPHONY AND ITS IMPLICATIONS: AUTHORIAL POSITION -- AUTHORING WITHOUT AN AUTHOR: THE INCARNATION MOTIF -- ADDITIONS TO THE ORIGINAL TEXT: TENSIONS UNRESOLVED -- CONCLUSION -- CHAPTER 6 The exiled author: 'Discourse in the Novel' and beyond -- FROM MONOLOGISM TO MONOGLOSSIA: THE FALL IN LANGUAGE -- LANGUAGE AS THE FLESH OF IDEOLOGY -- FALLING SILENT: THE EXILED AUTHOR -- The direct, or authoritative, word -- One's own word -- The higher word -- The image of the author -- CONCLUSION -- CHAPTER 7 Christian motifs in Bakhtin's carnival writings -- BAKHTIN, CHRISTIANITY AND RABELAIS.

THE DEBASEMENT OF METAPHYSICS -- OF LOVE AND LAUGHTER -- UTOPIA -- Real and ideal -- Means and ends. Is ambivalence absolute? -- CONCLUSION -- CHAPTER 8 The fate of Christian motifs in Bakhtin's work -- GOD -- THE FALL -- INCARNATION -- LOVE -- NOTES -- 1 INTRODUCTION -- 2 FALL AND INCARNATION IN 'TOWARDS A PHILOSOPHY OF THE ACT -- 3 THE AESTHETIC GOSPEL OF 'AUTHOR AND HERO IN AESTHETIC ACTIVITY' -- 4 WAS BAKHTIN A MARXIST? THE WORK OF THE BAKHTIN CIRCLE, 1924-1929 -- 5 FALLING SILENT: THE CRITICAL AESTHETIC OF PROBLEMS OF DOSTOEVSKY'S CREATIVE WORK -- 6 THE EXILED AUTHOR: 'DISCOURSE IN THE NOVEL' AND BEYOND -- 7 CHRISTIAN MOTIFS IN BAKHTIN'S CARNIVAL WRITINGS -- 8 THE FATE OF CHRISTIAN MOTIFS IN BAKHTIN'S WORK -- Bibliography -- PRIMARY LITERATURE -- SECONDARY LITERATURE -- Index.