Heteroglossia

The term //heteroglossia//, as originally conceived by Mikhail Bakhtin, is meant to capture the “stratification, diversity and randomness” that exists within language and is best manifested in fictional works, particularly the novel. Thus, heteroglossia, which is “not only a static invariant in the life of language, but also what ensures its dynamics… Alongside the centripetal forces, the centrifugal forces of language carry on their uninterrupted work; alongside … centralization and unification, the uninterrupted processes of decentralization and disunification go forward.” (Clark & Holquist, 1984, p. 13)  Consequently, in the context of the novel, heteroglossia pertains to the multiplicity of voices, languages, and dialects that create a panorama of variety on the ideological and social scale by giving voice to various perspectives and worldviews as manifested in dialogues between varaious characters, narrators, and even the authorial voice. Thus, Bakhtin celebrates the novel as the quintessential democratic and liberating genre that most closely approximates the social, multifarious reality of language while denigrating the epic poem for its unitary, invariant authorial style that lacks the genuine, dialogic features of language as it exists and is experienced in the real world.

Heteroglossia operates in language by a constant tension between the “the forces that set to unify and centralize meaning … On the opposing side stand those tendencies that foster the diversity and openness needed to keep paths open to the constantly fluctuating contextual world surrounding any utterance.” (Clark & Holquist, 1984, p. 13) As such, heteroglossia lies at the heart of a living, vibrant language by encompassing the forces of unification and normalcy (i.e. centripetal) on the one hand and those of disunity and multiplicity (i.e. centrifugal) on the other hand. The interminable friction and clash between the centripetal and centrifugal forces accounts for the dynamic and ever-changing nature of language that continues to evolve and transform in response to various socio-political, ideological, and other contextual factors that may necessitate change.

In his “Discourse in the Novel” Bakhtin criticizes the abstract models of language propounded by Russian formalist linguists as well as Saussure by asserting the dynamic and dialogic nature of language which is influenced and molded by centripetal as well as centrifugal forces, hence resulting in a living, breathing language that cannot be entirely captured through formalistic linguistic description of its consituent parts due to its constantly changing nature within a socio-cultural and ideational milieu. In "The Problem of Speech Genres" Bakhtin identifies the utterance as the fundamental unit of langage which is characterized by the response that it would elicit in a given speech such as a dialogue. This dialogic and reciprocal attribute of language is context-bound and ties into the diverging, centrifugal forces that account for the dynamic, evanescent, and ephemeral nature of language.

Clark, K. and Holquist, M. (1984). //Mikhail Bakhtin.// Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Emerson, C. and Holquist, M. (Eds.) (1986). //Speech Genres amd Other Late Essays: M. M. Bakhtin.// Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.

Holquist, M. (Ed.) (2002). //The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays by Mikhail Bakhtin//. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.


 * related terms**: homoglossia, monoglossia, utterance