Difference between revisions of "Linguistics"

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: [[Fr]]. ''[[linguistique]]''
  
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"[[linguistics]]" ([[Fr]]. ''[[linguistique]]'')
 
  
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=====Jacques Lacan=====
 +
=====Early Work=====
 +
While [[Lacan]]s interest in [[language]] can be traced back to the early 1930s, when he analyzed the [[writing]]s of a [[psychotic]] [[woman]] in his doctoral dissertation, it is only in the early 1950s that he begins to articulate his views of [[language]] in terms derived from a specific [[linguistics|linguistic theory]], and not until 1957 that he begins to engage with [[linguistics]] in any detail.
  
−
While [[Lacan]]s interest in [[language]] can be traced back to the early 1930s, when he analyzed the writings of a [[psychotic]] [[woman]]  in his doctoral dissertation, it is only in the early 1950s that he begins to articulate his views of [[language]] in terms derived from a specific linguistic theory,a dn not until 1957 that he begins to engage with [[linguistics]] in any detail.
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=====Structural Linguistics=====
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=====Claude Lévi-Strauss=====
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--
 
−
 
 
 
[[Lacan]]'s "linguistic turn" was inspired by the [[anthropology|anthropological]] work of [[Claude Lévi-Strauss]] who, in the 1940s, had begun to apply the methods of [[structure|structural]] [[linguistics]] to non-linguistic cultural data (myth, kinship relations, etc.), thus giving brith to "structural anthropology."
 
[[Lacan]]'s "linguistic turn" was inspired by the [[anthropology|anthropological]] work of [[Claude Lévi-Strauss]] who, in the 1940s, had begun to apply the methods of [[structure|structural]] [[linguistics]] to non-linguistic cultural data (myth, kinship relations, etc.), thus giving brith to "structural anthropology."
  
 
In so doing, [[Lévi-Strauss]] announced an ambitious programme, in which [[linguistics]] would provide a paradigm of [[science|scientificity]] for all the social sciences:
 
In so doing, [[Lévi-Strauss]] announced an ambitious programme, in which [[linguistics]] would provide a paradigm of [[science|scientificity]] for all the social sciences:
  
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<blockquote>"Structural linguistics will certainly play the same renovating role with respect to the social sciences that nuclear physics, for example, has played for the physical sciences."<ref>Levi-Strauss. 1945. p.33</ref></blockquote>
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<blockquote>"Structural linguistics will certainly play the same renovating role with respect to the social sciences that nuclear physics, for example, has played for the physical sciences."<ref>[[Claude Lévi-Strauss|Lévi-Strauss, Claude]]. 1945. "Structural analysis in linguistics and in anthropology," in ''Structural Anthropology'', trans. Claire Jacobson and Brooke Grundfest Schoepf, New York: Basic Books, 1963. p.33</ref></blockquote>
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−
---
 
  
 +
=====Jacques Lacan=====
 +
=====Psychoanalytic Theory=====
 
Following the indications of [[Lévi-Strauss]], [[Lacan]] turns to [[linguistics]] to provide [[psychoanalytic theory]] with a conceptual rigour that it previously lacked.
 
Following the indications of [[Lévi-Strauss]], [[Lacan]] turns to [[linguistics]] to provide [[psychoanalytic theory]] with a conceptual rigour that it previously lacked.
  
−
The reason for this lakc of ocnceptual rigour was simply due, [[Lacan]] argues, to the fact that [[linguistics|structural lingusitics]] appeared too alte for [[Freud]] to make use of it.
+
The reason for this lack of conceptual rigour was simply due, [[Lacan]] argues, to the fact that [[linguistics|structural linguistics]] appeared too late for [[Freud]] to make use of it.
  
−
however, [[Lacan]] argues that when [[Freud]] is reread in the light of linguistic theory, a coherent logic is revealed which is not otherwise apparent; indeed, [[Freud]] can even be seen to have anticipated certain elements of modenr linguistic theory.<ref>{E}} p.162</ref>
+
=====Sigmund Freud=====
−
 
+
However, [[Lacan]] argues that when [[Freud]] is reread in the light of [[linguistics|linguistic theory]], a coherent logic is revealed which is not otherwise apparent; indeed, [[Freud]] can even be seen to have anticipated certain elements of modern [[linguistics|linguistic theory]].<ref>{E}} p.162</ref>
−
--
 
  
 +
=====Structural Linguistics=====
 
[[Lacan]]'s engagement with [[linguistics]] revolves almost entirely aorund the work of [[Ferdinand de Saussure]] and [[Roman Jakobson]].
 
[[Lacan]]'s engagement with [[linguistics]] revolves almost entirely aorund the work of [[Ferdinand de Saussure]] and [[Roman Jakobson]].
  
−
References to the work of other influential linguistics... are almost completely absent from [[Lacan]]'s work.
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=====Ferdinand de Saussure=====
 +
[[Saussure]] was the founder of "[[linguistics|structural linguistics]]."
  
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There is a corresponding focus on the [[sign]], rhetorical tropes, and phoneme analysis, at the espense of an almost complete neglect of other areas of [[linguistics]] such as syntax, semantics, pragmatics, sociolinguistics and language acquisition.
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=====Diachronic and Synchronic=====
 +
In contrast to the study of [[language]] in the nineteenth century, which had been exclusively "[[diachronic]]" (i.e. focusing exclusively on the ways that [[language]]s change over [[time]]), [[Saussure]] argued that linguists should also be "[[synchronic]]" (i.e. focus on the state of a [[language]] at a given point in [[time]]).
  
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-----
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=====''Langue'' and ''Parole''=====
 +
=====Concept of the Sign=====
 +
This led him to develop his famous distinction between ''langue'' and ''parole'', and his concept of the [[sign]] as composed of two elements: [[signifier]] and [[signified]].
  
−
[[Saussure]] was the founder of 'structural lingusitics.'
+
====="Course in General Linguistics"=====
−
 
+
All these ideas are developed in [[Saussure]]'s most famous work, the "Course in General Linguistics," which was constructed by his students from notes they had taken at [[Saussure]]'s lectures at the Unviersity of Geneva and published three years after his death.<ref>[[Saussure|Saussure, Ferdinand de]]. (1916) ''[[Saussure|Course in General Linguistics]]'', ed. Charles Bally and Albert Sechehaye, trans. Wade Baskin, Glasgow: Collins Fontana. p.114</ref>
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In contrast to the study of language in the nineteenth century, which had been exclusively ''diachronic'' (i.e. focusing exclusively on the ways that languages change over time), [[Saussure]] argued that linguists should also be ''synchronic'' (i.e. focus on the state of a language at a given point in time).
 
−
 
 
−
This led him to deelop his famous distinction between ''langue'' and ''aprole'', and his concept of the [[sign]] as composed of two elements: [[signifier]] and [[signified]].
 
−
 
 
−
All these ideas are developed in [[Saussure]]'s most famous work, the ''Course in General Linguistics," which was constructed by his students from notes they had taken at [[Saussure]]'s lectures at the Unviersity of Geneva and published three years after his death.<ref>Saussure. 1916</ref>
 
  
 +
=====Roman Jakobson=====
 
[[Jakobson]] further developed the line laid down by [[Saussure]], pioneering the development of phonology, as well as making important contributions to the fields of grammatical semantics, pragmatics and poetics.
 
[[Jakobson]] further developed the line laid down by [[Saussure]], pioneering the development of phonology, as well as making important contributions to the fields of grammatical semantics, pragmatics and poetics.
  
−
--
+
=====Jacques Lacan=====
−
 
+
=====Language as Structure, System of Signifiers=====
−
From Saussure, Lacan borrows the concepts of language as a structure, although whereas Saussure had conceived it as a sytem of signs, Lacan conceives it as a system of signifiers.
+
From [[Saussure]], [[Lacan]] borrows the concepts of [[language]] as a [[structure]], although whereas [[Saussure]] had conceived it as a sytem of [[sign]]s, [[Lacan]] conceives it as a system of [[signifier]]s.
  
−
From Jakobson, Lacan borrows the cocnepts of [[metaphor]] and [[metonymy] as the two axes (synchronic and diachronic) along hwich all lingusitic phenomena are aligne,d using these terms to understand [[Freud]]'s concepts of [[condensation]] and [[displacement]].
+
=====Metaphor and Metonymy=====
−
 
+
From [[Jakobson]], [[Lacan]] borrows the concepts of [[metaphor]] and [[metonymy] as the two axes ([[synchronic]] and [[diachronic]]) along which all linguistic phenomena are aligned, using these terms to understand [[Freud]]'s concepts of [[condensation]] and [[displacement]].
−
Other concepts which [[Lacan]] takes from [[linguistics]] are those of the [[shifter]], and the distinciton ebtwen the [[statement]] and the [[enunciation]].
 
−
 
 
−
 
 
−
----
 
  
 +
=====Other Linguistics Concepts=====
 +
Other concepts which [[Lacan]] takes from [[linguistics]] are those of the [[shifter]], and the distinction betwen the [[statement]] and the [[enunciation]].
  
 +
=====Linguistics and Psychoanalytic Theory=====
 +
=====Psychoanalytic Use of Linguistic Concepts=====
 
In his borrowing of linguistic concepts, [[Lacan]] has been accused of grossly distorting them.
 
In his borrowing of linguistic concepts, [[Lacan]] has been accused of grossly distorting them.
  
−
[[lacan]] responds to such criticisms by arguing that he is not doing [[linguistics]] but [[psychoanalysis]], and this requires a certain modification of the concepts borrowed from [[linguistics]].
+
[[Lacan]] responds to such criticisms by arguing that he is not doing [[linguistics]] but [[psychoanalysis]], and this requires a certain modification of the concepts borrowed from [[linguistics]].
−
 
 
−
In the end, [[Lacan]] is not really interested in linguistic theory in itself, but only in the ways it can be used to develop [[psychoanalytic theory]].<ref>Lacan. 1970-1. seminar of 27 january 1971</ref>
 
−
 
 
−
It was this that led [[Lacan]] to coin the neologism ''linguistérie'' (from the words ''linguistique'' and ''hystérie'') to refer to his psychoanalytic use of linguistic concepts.<ref>{{S20}} p.20</ref>
 
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−
 
 
−
 
 
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--
 
−
 
 
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[[Lacan]]'s concept of the [[letter]] is the subject of a critique by [[Jacques Derrida]] (1975) and by two of Derrida's follows (Lacoue-Labarthe and Nancy, 1973).
 
  
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[[Lacan]] refers to the latter work in his 1972-3 seminar.<ref>{{S20}} p.62-6.</ref>
+
In the end, [[Lacan]] is not really interested in [[linguistics|linguistic theory]] in itself, but only in the ways it can be used to develop [[psychoanalytic theory]].<ref>{{L}} 1970-71. ''Le Seminaire. Livre XVIII. D'un discours qui ne serait pas du semblant, 1970-71'', unpublished. [[Seminar]] of 27 January 1971.</ref>
  
 +
It was this that led [[Lacan]] to coin the neologism ''[[linguistics|linguistérie]]'' (from the words ''[[linguistics|linguistique]]'' and ''[[hysteria|hystérie]]'') to refer to his psychoanalytic use of linguistic concepts.<ref>{{S20}} p.20</ref>
  
 +
==See Also==
 +
* [[Enunciation]]
 +
* [[Language]]
 +
* [[Metaphor]]
 +
* [[Metonymy]]
 +
* [[Shifter]]
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* [[Sign]]
 +
* [[Signified]]
 +
* [[Signifier]]
 +
* [[Statement]]
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
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[[Category:Jacques Lacan]]
 
[[Category:Jacques Lacan]]
 
[[Category:Dictionary]]
 
[[Category:Dictionary]]
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[[Category:Language]]
 
[[Category:Symbolic]]
 
[[Category:Symbolic]]
 
[[Category:Concepts]]
 
[[Category:Concepts]]
 
[[Category:Terms]]
 
[[Category:Terms]]
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[[Category:OK]]

Revision as of 09:33, 18 August 2006

Fr. linguistique


Jacques Lacan
Early Work

While Lacans interest in language can be traced back to the early 1930s, when he analyzed the writings of a psychotic woman in his doctoral dissertation, it is only in the early 1950s that he begins to articulate his views of language in terms derived from a specific linguistic theory, and not until 1957 that he begins to engage with linguistics in any detail.

Structural Linguistics
Claude Lévi-Strauss

Lacan's "linguistic turn" was inspired by the anthropological work of Claude Lévi-Strauss who, in the 1940s, had begun to apply the methods of structural linguistics to non-linguistic cultural data (myth, kinship relations, etc.), thus giving brith to "structural anthropology."

In so doing, Lévi-Strauss announced an ambitious programme, in which linguistics would provide a paradigm of scientificity for all the social sciences:

"Structural linguistics will certainly play the same renovating role with respect to the social sciences that nuclear physics, for example, has played for the physical sciences."[1]

Jacques Lacan
Psychoanalytic Theory

Following the indications of Lévi-Strauss, Lacan turns to linguistics to provide psychoanalytic theory with a conceptual rigour that it previously lacked.

The reason for this lack of conceptual rigour was simply due, Lacan argues, to the fact that structural linguistics appeared too late for Freud to make use of it.

Sigmund Freud

However, Lacan argues that when Freud is reread in the light of linguistic theory, a coherent logic is revealed which is not otherwise apparent; indeed, Freud can even be seen to have anticipated certain elements of modern linguistic theory.[2]

Structural Linguistics

Lacan's engagement with linguistics revolves almost entirely aorund the work of Ferdinand de Saussure and Roman Jakobson.

Ferdinand de Saussure

Saussure was the founder of "structural linguistics."

Diachronic and Synchronic

In contrast to the study of language in the nineteenth century, which had been exclusively "diachronic" (i.e. focusing exclusively on the ways that languages change over time), Saussure argued that linguists should also be "synchronic" (i.e. focus on the state of a language at a given point in time).

Langue and Parole
Concept of the Sign

This led him to develop his famous distinction between langue and parole, and his concept of the sign as composed of two elements: signifier and signified.

"Course in General Linguistics"

All these ideas are developed in Saussure's most famous work, the "Course in General Linguistics," which was constructed by his students from notes they had taken at Saussure's lectures at the Unviersity of Geneva and published three years after his death.[3]

Roman Jakobson

Jakobson further developed the line laid down by Saussure, pioneering the development of phonology, as well as making important contributions to the fields of grammatical semantics, pragmatics and poetics.

Jacques Lacan
Language as Structure, System of Signifiers

From Saussure, Lacan borrows the concepts of language as a structure, although whereas Saussure had conceived it as a sytem of signs, Lacan conceives it as a system of signifiers.

Metaphor and Metonymy

From Jakobson, Lacan borrows the concepts of metaphor and [[metonymy] as the two axes (synchronic and diachronic) along which all linguistic phenomena are aligned, using these terms to understand Freud's concepts of condensation and displacement.

Other Linguistics Concepts

Other concepts which Lacan takes from linguistics are those of the shifter, and the distinction betwen the statement and the enunciation.

Linguistics and Psychoanalytic Theory
Psychoanalytic Use of Linguistic Concepts

In his borrowing of linguistic concepts, Lacan has been accused of grossly distorting them.

Lacan responds to such criticisms by arguing that he is not doing linguistics but psychoanalysis, and this requires a certain modification of the concepts borrowed from linguistics.

In the end, Lacan is not really interested in linguistic theory in itself, but only in the ways it can be used to develop psychoanalytic theory.[4]

It was this that led Lacan to coin the neologism linguistérie (from the words linguistique and hystérie) to refer to his psychoanalytic use of linguistic concepts.[5]

See Also

References

  1. ↑ Lévi-Strauss, Claude. 1945. "Structural analysis in linguistics and in anthropology," in Structural Anthropology, trans. Claire Jacobson and Brooke Grundfest Schoepf, New York: Basic Books, 1963. p.33
  2. ↑ {E}} p.162
  3. ↑ Saussure, Ferdinand de. (1916) Course in General Linguistics, ed. Charles Bally and Albert Sechehaye, trans. Wade Baskin, Glasgow: Collins Fontana. p.114
  4. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. 1970-71. Le Seminaire. Livre XVIII. D'un discours qui ne serait pas du semblant, 1970-71, unpublished. Seminar of 27 January 1971.
  5. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Le Séminaire. Livre XX. Encore, 1972-73. Ed. Jacques-Alain Miller. Paris: Seuil, 1975. p.20
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