Difference between revisions of "Metalanguage"

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A '[[metalanguage]]' is a [[linguistic]] term for a type of [[language]] that can be used to describe (or analyze) (the properties of) another [[language]] (or [[symbolic]] [[system]]).
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==Roman Jakobson==
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[[Roman Jakobson]] includes the metalingual function in his list of the functions of [[language]].<ref>Jakobson, 1960:25</ref>
  
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In [[linguistics]], a technical or second-order [[language]] used to describe and analyze a natural or first-order [[language]].
 
 
More generally, any descriptive [[discourse]] such as [[literary criticism]] can be said to function as a [[metalanguage]].
 
More generally, any descriptive [[discourse]] such as [[literary criticism]] can be said to function as a [[metalanguage]].
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According to [[Jakobson]], the process of acquiring or learning a [[language]] involves many metalinguistic operations.
 
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He also argues that all speakers of a [[language]] also use a [[metalanguage]] without realizing it in order to ensure that they are using the same code as their interlocutors.
 
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The very possibility of a metalinguistic dimension is denied by many of the thinkers associated with [[poststructuralism]], [[postmodernism]] and [[deconstruction]].
 
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[[Lacan]], for example, flatly denies the existence of any [[metalanguage]], basing his claim on [[Heidegger]]'s contention that [[language]] is the 'house of being' and that it is impossible to step outside it.<ref>1960</ref>
 
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In [[Heidegger]]'s view, any [[metalanguage]] is a [[metaphysics]] and a 'technicalization' that destroys the experience of a [[language]].
 
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Most of the [[philosophers]] associated with the [[linguistic turn]] take a similar view and argue, like [[Wittgenstein]], that there can be no metalinguistic or extralinguistic dimension betcause "the limits of my language are the limits of my world" or, like [[Derrida]], that "there is nothing outside the text."
 
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==Jacques Lacan==
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In 1956 [[Jacques Lacan]] reaffirms [[Jakobson]]'s view on the metalingual function of all [[language]]: "all [[language]] implies a [[metalanguage]], its already a [[metalanguage]] of its own register."<ref>{{S3}} p. 226</ref>
  
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However, in 1960, [[Lacan]] states the opposite, arguing that "no [[metalanguage]] can be spoken."<ref>{{E}} p.311</ref>
  
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[[Lacan]] rejects the very possibility of a metalinguistic dimension, denies the [[existence]] of any [[metalanguage]].
  
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[[Lacan]] follows [[Heidegger]]'s view of [[language]] as a "house of being" of which it is impossible to step [[outside]].<ref>1960</ref>
  
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[[Lacan]] does not deny that there is a beyond of [[language]], but he does argue that this beyond is not of a kind that could finally anchor [[meaning]]. 
  
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There is no transcendental [[signified]], no way that [[language]] could "tell the [[truth]] about [[truth]]."<ref>{{Ec}} p. 867-8</ref>
  
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==Other of the Other==
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The same point is also expressed in the phrase, "there is no Other of the Other."<ref>{{E}} p.311</ref>
  
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If the [[Other]] is the [[guarantee]] of the coherence of the [[subject]]'s [[discourse]], then the [[falsity]] of this [[guarantee]] is revealed by the fact that the [[guarantor]] himself [[lack]]s such a [[guarantee]]. 
  
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Metalanguage is the technical term in linguistics for any form of language which is used to describe the properties of language.
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==Psychoanalytic Treatment==
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Roman Jakobson includes the metalingual function in his list of the functions of language.<ref>Jakobson, 1960:25</ref>
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In a [[clinical]] context, this means that there is no [[metalanguage]] of the [[transference]], no point [[outside]] the [[transference]] from which it could be finally [[interpreted]] and 'liquidated'.
  
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Lacan's first reference to metalanguage comes in 1956, when he echoes Jakobson's view on the metalingual function of all language: "all language implies a metalanguage, its already a metalanguage of its own register."<ref>S3, 226</ref>
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==See Also==
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* [[Language]]
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A few years later, in 1960, he says precisely the opposite, arguing that "no metalanguage can be spoken."<ref>E 311</ref>
 
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What Lacan appears to mean by this remark is that, since every attempt to fix the meaning of language must be done in language, there can be no escape from language, no "outside."
 
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This is reminiscent of Heidegger's views on the impossibility of exiting "the house of language."
 
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This also appears similar to the structuralist theme of ''il n'y a rien hors du texte'' ('there is nothing outside the text'), but it is not the same; Lacan does not deny that there is a beyond of language (this beyond is the real), but he does argue that this beyond is not of a kind that could finally anchor meaning.  There is, in other words, no transcendental signified, no way that language could "tell the truth about truth."<ref>Ec 867-8</ref>
 
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The same point is also expressed in the phrase; "there is no Other of the Other."<ref>E 311</ref>
 
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If the Other is the guarantee of the coherence of the subject's discourse, then the falsity of this guarantee is revealed by the fact that the guarantor himself lacks such a guarantee. 
 
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In a clinical context, this means that there is no metalanguage of the transference, no point outside the transference from which it could be finally interpreted and 'liquidated'.
 
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
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[[Category:Linguistics]]
 
[[Category:Linguistics]]
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[[Category:Postmodern theory]]
 
[[Category:Postmodern theory]]
 
[[Category:Deconstruction]]
 
[[Category:Deconstruction]]

Revision as of 10:06, 29 June 2006

A 'metalanguage' is a linguistic term for a type of language that can be used to describe (or analyze) (the properties of) another language (or symbolic system).

Roman Jakobson

Roman Jakobson includes the metalingual function in his list of the functions of language.[1]

More generally, any descriptive discourse such as literary criticism can be said to function as a metalanguage.

Jacques Lacan

In 1956 Jacques Lacan reaffirms Jakobson's view on the metalingual function of all language: "all language implies a metalanguage, its already a metalanguage of its own register."[2]

However, in 1960, Lacan states the opposite, arguing that "no metalanguage can be spoken."[3]

Lacan rejects the very possibility of a metalinguistic dimension, denies the existence of any metalanguage.

Lacan follows Heidegger's view of language as a "house of being" of which it is impossible to step outside.[4]

Lacan does not deny that there is a beyond of language, but he does argue that this beyond is not of a kind that could finally anchor meaning.

There is no transcendental signified, no way that language could "tell the truth about truth."[5]

Other of the Other

The same point is also expressed in the phrase, "there is no Other of the Other."[6]

If the Other is the guarantee of the coherence of the subject's discourse, then the falsity of this guarantee is revealed by the fact that the guarantor himself lacks such a guarantee.

Psychoanalytic Treatment

In a clinical context, this means that there is no metalanguage of the transference, no point outside the transference from which it could be finally interpreted and 'liquidated'.

See Also

References

  1. ↑ Jakobson, 1960:25
  2. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book III. The Psychoses, 1955-56. Trans. Russell Grigg. London: Routledge, 1993. p. 226
  3. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p.311
  4. ↑ 1960
  5. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits. Paris: Seuil, 1966. p. 867-8
  6. ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Écrits: A Selection. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Tavistock Publications, 1977. p.311
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