Talk about some hardcore groupies. Seriously, how many people have a group named after them that's exclusively committed to studying their work while they're still alive? But just like King Arthur, Bakhtin has a circle—and it's not just a table. The Russian Revolution made them seriously tight, and many nights of strong tea and Okroshka keeps them up debating how language reflects conflicts among social groups. They have an open door policy, including intellectuals, scholars, musicians, artistic types, and archeologists. No Soviet agents allowed!

Matvei Kagan

Founding member

Kagan just couldn't get enough of that Kant—hey, can you blame him? He's the one to make sure the group doesn't stray too far into politics. NSFW, you know? Kagan was a member of the Social Democratic Party (future Communists), but not an atheist like most of the others.

Kazimir Severinovich Malevich

Artist-in-Residence

So Malevich isn't a bona fide member, but he does all the graphic work for the group. These guys do a lot of illegal posters, stickers—you know, guerilla stuff— and this is the guy who creates all of the images.

Pavel Medvedev

Doppelganger

Bakhtin and Medvedev are sort of like Picasso and Braque. Their work looks a lot alike, and people are still arguing over who the rightful author is.