Protivoslovo

[Olga Meerson]

It is important that protivoslovo is like chuzhoe slovo in Baxtin. Like all of these in him, including the trendy and trendily misused word dialogue, what matters is that this word (actually a whole layer of discourse) is embedded in the main "slovo". From the contexts familiar to me in Baxtin, protivoslovo is nearly synonymous with chuzhoe slovo but with a more pronounced irony, a more direct reversal or detachment from the meaning with which the implicitly quoted voice originally invested the word. Thus i eta samaia Dunechka za eto samoe KZAHETSIA zamuzh idet! -- is chuzhoe slovo (the italicized kazhetsia) but Makar Devushkin's "ia perepisyvaiu" (meaning a whole range of things--some will say I am merely a copyist but perhaps even being a copyist is not without a point--I quote from Batin directly) introduces the unmentioned "some will say" or, in Russian, deskat', and "they may be wrong" (also the implied deskat' and what is implied by this deskat'). What Baxtin means is a
 word (or a whole discourse) ironically divested of its original meaning by its new context. This may be too long, but show me a good existent translation of Baxtin's chuzhoe slovo.  All this considered, I think the best of the available would be COUNTER-DISCOURSE-discourse. Nowadays it is fashionable to talk about discourse in terms of physics or political science -- in the plural, as mutually antagonizing forces. Using this word (counter-discourse) will remind to the reader how much this fad owes to Baxtin's original ear and coining language. I think this reminder is worth a lot.
o.m.


----- Original Message -----
From: Lily Alexander <lily.alexander at UTORONTO.CA>
Date: Saturday, May 26, 2007 2:50 am
Subject: [SEELANGS] Protivoslovo

> Dear Colleagues,
> 
> Rereading yesterday Bakhtin, I ran into "protivoslovo."
> 
> I am surprised that I did not come across any attempts of its 
> theorization.Of course Bakhtin invented many words, but this one 
> may have slipped 
> through undiscussed. It is used in his "Marxism and the Philosophy 
> of 
> Language."
> 
> As with all of his invented words (or reinvented), it is more than 
> what 
> just meets the eye. It  certainly will be more than just 
> "vozrazhenie," 
> counter argument, etc.
> Slovo also connotes tale, myth, even epos, so it might have an 
> extended 
> meaning beyond "word."  But of course, for starters, "word" and 
> "utterance" would be the subject of his discussion.
> 
> I have two questions. Have anyone seen or read (or written!) any 
> theoretical work discussing it as a term or concept? I saw in one 
> semiotic paper - it was mentioned in passing.
> 
> How to translate it?
> Trying to translate it, I came up with "antiword" (like 
> antiworld), or 
> "counterword" (like counter-culture). I saw "counterword" used in 
> an 
> article in an journal on aesthetics simply as "vozrazhenie." It is 
> also 
> interesting what both (or any other possible) translations would 
> connote 
> in English.
> 
> Antiword is part of the software engineering vocabulary. 
> Counterword is 
> translated in Multitran - definitely far from what Bakhtin meant. 
> See below:
> 
> Counterword
> ??????????????????? ????? 
> <http://www.multitran.ru/c/m.exe?t=654038_2_1>; ???????????? 
> ?????????? 
> ????? ?? ??????? ?????????-?????????? ????????? 
> <http://www.multitran.ru/c/m.exe?t=1357637_2_1>
> 
> 1) a desemantized word, 2) an emotionally colored word with faded 
> [objective-logical] meaning
> 
> This will be something fossilized - exactly the opposite to what 
> was 
> meant by Bakhtin, as "I am feeling" :-)
> Bakhtin was rarely interested in anything "stertoe," but rather of 
> the 
> the things that "stick out."
> 
> Slovo provokes protivoslovo in his context. This would be more 
> along the 
> lines of passionate counterargument. Something polyarnoe in a 
> dialoical 
> context, coming out of opposition or provocation and stimulated by 
> debate.
> Any thoughts?
> 
> Thanks you.
> 
> Lily Alexander
> 
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