The dimension of religion in the life and work of Bakhtin has been fiercely contested--and willfully ignored--by critics. Unique in its in-depth focus on this subject, Bakhtin and Religion brings together leading British, American, and Russian scholars to investigate the role of religious thought in shaping and framing Bakhtin's writings.

These essays provide an overview of Bakhtin's attitude toward religion in general and Russian Orthodoxy in particular, addressing topics ranging from how Bakhtin's religious ideas informed his linguistic and aesthetic theories to the idea of love in his secular and religious thought and to the religious component of Bakhtin's theory of laughter.