Saussure and his Interpreters

This book represents the first major reassessment on the reception of Saussure’s ideas in academia of the 20th century. Saussure’s work had a profound impact on developments in many fields, including linguistics and anthropology as well as psychology and literary studies. What were the views of Saussure that his interpreters took to be true? What was the level of understanding Saussure’s ideas by those who received them? Or how misunderstood they were? Why? These questions answer central issues in the history and culture of Western Europe. Each chapter is devoted to one interpreter of Saussure’s work. However, many other interpreters are also mentioned in context. This allows for comparisons and draws attention to the similarities and differences between their interpretations. Bloomfield, Hjelmslev and Jakobson are all examined in detail. Chomsky, barthes, Derrida, Levi-Strauss, Levi-Strauss and Chomsky are also included. A supplement to the new edition takes account of notes recently discovered in Saussure’s hand. This discovery reopens the question about how accurately the Cours de linguistique générale, published posthumously in 1916, reflects Saussure’s thinking on language and communication at the time of his passing. This new interpretation of Saussure is significantly different from the ones that have been previously proposed. Contents Preface, Preface of the Second Edition, Abbreviations and Interpreting the interpreters. References, index.