Wild Publics and Grotesque Symposiums: Habermas and Bakhtin on Dialogue, Everyday Life and the Public Sphere

Abstract

Sets some of the core elements of Jurgen Habermas's thought on the public sphere, ethics, & rational dialogue against the ideas of Mikhail M. Bakhtin, which are favored. Focus is on ethics & intersubjectivity, language, & the lifeworld & the everyday to shed light on gaps in Habermas's notions of dialogical democracy. Key points in the discussion are then linked to the debate on publics & counterpublics. His drive to supercede the constraints a "subject-centered reason" leads him to an overly abstract & formalistic account of intersubjectivity. It is asserted that despite Habermas's ostensive emphasis on pragmatics & frequent turn to the notion of lifeworld, he fials to comprehend adequately the relevance of the "embodied, situational, & dialogical" aspects of everyday life. The idea of multiple counterpublics is advocated & finds support in Bakhtin's work, which is argued to demonstrate a more nuanced & realistic account of power, domination, & resistance than does Habermas's. 55 References. J. Zendejas