Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Books
  3. Saussure
  • Cited by 54
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
January 2010
Print publication year:
1991
Online ISBN:
9780511624599
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511624599
Subjects:
History of Philosophy, English Language and Linguistics: General Interest, Language and Linguistics
Series:
Modern European Philosophy
Information

Book description

The Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) has exerted a profound influence not only on twentieth century linguistics but on a whole range of disciplines within the humanities and social sciences. His central thesis was that the primary object in studying a language is the state of that language at a particular time – a so-called synchronic study. He went on to claim that a language state is a socially constituted system of signs that are quite arbitrary and that can only be defined in terms of their relationship within the system. This new perspective has changed the way people think about linguistics and has led to important attempts to apply structuralist ideas in anthropology, literary criticism, and philosophy. Professor Holdcroft's book expounds and elaborates Saussure's central ideas. It also offers a critical assessment of them, arguing that many of Saussure's claims are either questionable or have been misunderstood.

Reviews

"[Holdcroft's] book, which will disturb orthodox Saussureans and invigorate critical ones, deserves to become the lightning rod foor a new wave of Saussure commentary aimed both at upsetting and furthering its conclusions." Language

"A concise, clear and sophisticated critique of Saussure's thought, this small book should do much good." Times Literary Supplement

Refine List

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

Contents

Contents

Metrics

Altmetric attention score

Full text views

Total number of HTML views: 0
Total number of PDF views: 0 *
Loading metrics...

Book summary page views

Total views: 0 *
Loading metrics...

* Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

Usage data cannot currently be displayed.