Mikhail Bakhtin (1895-1975) is one of the preeminent figures in twentieth-century philosophical thought. Art and Answerability contains three of his early essays from the years following the Russian Revolution, when Bakhtin and other intellectuals eagerly participated in the debates, lectures, demonstrations, and manifesto writing of the period. Because they predate works that have already been translated, these essays—"Art and Answerability," "Author and Hero in Aesthetic Activity," and "The Problem of Content, Material, and Form in Verbal Art"—are essential to a comprehensive understanding of Bakhtin's later works. A superb introduction by Michael Holquist sets out the major themes and concerns of the three essays and identifies their place in the canon of Bakhtin's work and in intellectual history. The introduction, together with Vadim Liapunov's scholarly gloss, makes these essays accessible to students as well as scholars.

• Introduction: The Architectonics of Answerability (Michael Holquist)
• Art and Answerability (1919). Translation and notes by Vadim Liapunov (including material from the editors of the Russian edition, S. S. Averintsev and S. G. Bocharov)
• Author and Hero in Aesthetic Activity (ca. 1920-1923). Translation and notes by Vadim Liapunov (including material from the editors of the Russian edition, S. S. Averintsev and S. G. Bocharov)
• Supplement: The Problem of Content, Material and Form in Verbal Art (1924). Translation by Kenneth Brostrom (notes by Michael Holquist, including material from the editor of the Russian edition, S. G. Bocharov)
• Index