Setting the Stage: Saussure's Inaugural Lecture


 Setting the Stage: Saussure's Inaugural Lecture

Ferdinand de Saussure, challenging prevailing paradigms in linguistics, initiated a groundbreaking approach to comprehend the complexities of linguistic phenomena, placing a specific emphasis on the elusive nature of language. In doing so, Saussure departed from conventional methods, ushering in a novel perspective aimed at redefining the understanding of language and its intricate nuances. His views not only represented a departure from established norms but also marked a bold stride toward a fresh point of view from which to examine the fluid concepts employed within the field of linguistics.

The inaugural lecture of his General Linguistics course at the University of Geneva began with a seemingly simple yet profound question: "Qu'est-ce que le langage?"

He suggests that starting from an internal perspective (d'un principe interieur), linguistics could be seen as the science of language or languages:

“…from an internal principle (interieur) one could define linguistics as: the science of language (du langage) or of languages (des langues)”.

However, this seemingly straightforward definition led to the immediate and much more complex question: "What is language?"

“But the question then immediately arises: what is language”(qu'est-ce que le langage)?

That question, together with the introduction of some of his key terms in this part of the lecture, set the stage for a meticulous exploration that characterized Saussure's linguistic inquiries.

In these early stages of the first course, it seems plausible that Saussure was focused on "les langues" (languages), thereby laying the cornerstone for a comprehensive plan to address "les langues, la langue, and le langage" (languages, language system, and language phenomena) in the future. This threefold plan, still in its beginnings, unequivocally showed the depth of his commitment to understanding the multifaceted aspects of language (Komatsu and Wolf 1996).

Faced with the complexities and challenges of defining linguistics from within, Saussure advocated for an external perspective (de l'extérieur). He proposed defining linguistics through the discipline's progressive probings, akin to a child's exploration, where linguistics becomes conscious of itself by establishing what it is not. This method, reminiscent of "negative dialectics," a concept explored by philosophers such as Socrates, laid the groundwork for Saussure's distinctive approach:

“We shall thus have to be content to define linguistics from the outside (de l'exterieur) by considering the progressive probings through which it becomes conscious of itself by establishing what is not linguistics (comparison of the child!)”.

In his exploration of linguistics, Saussure introduced the concept of a "demarcation <périphérique>" between linguistics and other sciences. This demarcation necessitated understanding linguistics in relation to diverse disciplines, including ethnology, philology, sociology, logic and psychology, emphasizing both differences and connections. It's worth noting that the solidarity between sciences observed here mirrors the relationship between the signs of a language system, where signification is determined based on similarities and differences, as seen in the case of linguistics and other disciplines.

Such an unorthodox approach exemplified the intricate relationships within Saussure's linguistic framework, where terms like linguistics, language, the language, languages, and the phenomenon of language lacked fixed boundaries. These terms were defined in relation to what they are not, forming a dynamic interplay that simultaneously delineated and shaped each other, introducing an element of uncertainty, deferral and flexibility.

The ambiguity surrounding these terms underscores the complexity of Saussure's linguistic theories, where the absence of a clear demarcation emphasizes the interconnectedness of these concepts. Saussure, acknowledging the difficulty in defining the nature of language, strategically deferred certain general ideas to the end of the course, setting the tone for the subsequent three courses he delivered at the University of Geneva. In essence, the quest for the definition of linguistics (la linguistique) and, in particular, of “language” that began on that cold Wednesday of 1906 unfolded as an endless philosophical journey, leaving an indelible mark on the history of la science du langage ou des langues.

 Bibliography

De Saussure, Ferdinand. Premier Cours de Linguistique Générale (1907): D'après les Cahiers d'Albert Riedlinger. Saussure's First Course of Lectures on General Linguistics (1907): From the Notebooks of Albert Riedlinger. Edited by Eisuke Komatsu. Translated by George Wolf. Tokyo: Gakushuin University, 1996.

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