- 160 pages
- English
- PDF
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF
Saussure: A Guide For The Perplexed
About this book
Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) is generally considered one of the main founders of modern linguistics and semiotics. The book that was derived from his teaching, the Course in General Linguistics, had a lasting impact on the intellectual life of the 20th century and remains today an object of debates and controversies.
This Guide for the Perplexed introduces the reader to the ways in which Saussure developed his revolutionary insights on language in the context of the linguistics of his time. It also provides clear definitions and explanations of the basic notions that form the substance of his work, with relevant examples of how they apply to the understanding of language and other symbolic systems. The book demonstrates how Saussure's ideas have subsequently been used in the humanities and social sciences. It concludes by pointing to the continuing relevance of the theoretical and practical problems that were articulated by Saussure.
This is the ideal book for those studying Saussure, structural linguistics or semantics and semiotics, offering a clear overview and explanation of all the key aspects of this fascinating linguist's work.
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Information
SAUSSURE’S
LAST
LECTURES
35
“Ultimately,
we
have
to
consider
the
whole
system
of
language
as
sets
of
sound
differences
combined
with
sets
of
different
ideas.”
The
course
has
come
to
a
close.
Professor
de
Saussure
hesitates.
He
has
not
delivered
a
coherent
concluding
statement.
This
is
not
his
style.
He
lacked
the
time
to
complete
the
program
he
had
announced
when
the
year
started.
Looking
back,
he
thinks
that
he
has
more
or
less
fully
treated
the
external
part,
the
presentation
of
the
diversity
of
language.
But
for
the
internal
part,
evolutionary
linguistics,
that
is,
the
linguistics
of
parole
,
the
dynamics
of
language,
has
been
neglected
in
favor
of
some
general
principles
regarding
static
linguistic.
These
principles
deserve
to
be
pondered
further.
In
1916,
three
years
after
Saussure’s
death,
Leopold
Gautier,
the
student
who
had
interviewed
him
in
May
1911,
reminisced
about
his
professor,
as
a
“distinguished
aging
gentleman,
looking
tired
and
dreamy,
with
a
touch
of
anxious
sadness
and
perplexity.”
Table of contents
- Contents
- Introduction
- 1 Saussure’s Last Lectures: A Primer in General Linguistics
- 2 Saussure’s Early Years: A Golden and Studious Adolescence
- 3 Saussure in Leipzig, Berlin, and Paris: The Fast-track to Fame and Maturity
- 4 The Journey Home: The Gentleman Linguist of Geneva
- 5 Linguistics as a Science: Saussure’s Distinction between Langue (Language as System) and Parole (Language in Use)
- 6 Signs, Signification, Semiology
- 7 Synchrony and Diachrony
- 8 The Making of a Posthumous Book: The Course in General Linguistics (1916)
- 9 Saussure’s Double Legacy and Beyond
- Appendix I: A Saussure Inventory
- Appendix II: The Quotable Saussure
- References
- Index
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Yes, you can access Saussure: A Guide For The Perplexed by Paul Bouissac in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Languages & Linguistics & Linguistic Semantics. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.