ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides a careful analysis of Julia Kristeva's interpretation and of the disparities between Bakhtin's notion of dialogism and Kristeva's seminal invention of intertextuality. It examines Bakhtin's reflection on appropriation as a necessary part of understanding in the human sciences and defines a working distinction between appropriation and distortion. The book then concentrates on the reception of Bakhtin in Quebec, for this still has a degree of national cohesion (in spite of the fact that the printed testimony of its activity dates from the early to mid-1980s); but more importantly, it addresses quite directly Kristeva's dominant interpretation, which was disseminated across the Western world together with Bakhtin's work. Popular culture is also a growing area where Bakhtin seems to provide a virtually bottomless reservoir of handy concepts.
