Language: The Unknown

378 Pages·1989·5.039 MB·

by  Julia Kristeva, Anne M. Menke (trans.)

LANGUAGE: THE UNKNOWN
European Perspectives
A Series of the Columbia University Press

LANGUAGE
THE UNKNOWN
An Initiation into Linguistics
JULIA KRISTEVA
/I
Translated by Anne M. Menke
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW YORK
Columbia U niversicy Press wishes co express its appreciation of assistance given by the
government of France through le Miniscere de la Culture in the preparation of chis
translation.
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS
NEW YORK
Le langage, cet inconnu, copyright © Editions du Seuil 1981; translation copyright ©
Columbia University Press 1989
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Krisceva, Julia, 1941-
(Langage, cet inconnu. English}
Language-the unknown : an initiation into linguistics / Julia
Krisceva ; translated by Anne M. Menke.
p. cm. -(European perspectives)
Translation of: Le langage, cet inconnu.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-231-06106-4 (alk. paper)
1. Linguistics. 2. Language and languages. I. Title.
II. Series.
Pl21.K7413 1989
410-dc19 88-39195
CIP
Printed in the United States of America
Case bound editions of Columbia University Press books are
Smyth-sewn and printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper
CONTENTS
PART ONE: INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS
Introduction 3
1. Language, La Langue, Speech, and Discourse 6
2. The Linguistic Sign 12
3. The Materiality of Language 18
Phonetics 19
The Graphic and the Gestural 23
Linguistic Categories and Relations 30
PART TWO: LANGUAGE IN HISTORY
Introduction 43
4. Anthropology and Linguistics: The Knowledge of
Language in So-Called Primitive Societies 48
5. The Egyptians: Their Writing 63
6. Mesopotamian Civilization: The Sumerians
and Akkadians 68
7. China: Writing as Science 72
8. Indian Linguistics 82
9. The Phoenician Alphabet 93
10. The Hebrews: The Bible and the Cabala 98
11. Logical Greece 104
V
Contents
vi
12. Rome: The Transmission of Greek Grammar 117
13. Arab Grammar 129
14. Medieval Speculations 135
15. Humanists and Grammarians of the Renaissance 144
16. The Grammar of Port-Royal 158
1 7. The Encyclopedie: La Langue and Nature 172
18. Language as History 193
19. Structural Linguistics 217
Logical Research 221
The Prague Linguistic Circle 223
The Copenhagen Circle 230
American Structuralism 237
Mathematical Linguistics 249
Generative Grammar 252
PART THREE: LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGES
20. Psychoanalysis and Language 265
21. The Practice of Language 278
Orators and Rhetors 279
Literature 287
22. Semiotics 295
Structural Anthropology 299
The Language of Gestures 303
Musical Language 308
Visible Language: Painting 312
Visible language: Photography and Cinema 315
Zoo semiotics 318
CONCLUSION 325
NOTES 331
WORKS PRINCIPALLY RELIED ON 341
INDEX 343
Where does one start an initiation into linguistics? This book will
answer that question, one every student of language, the humanities,
and the social sciences has asked himself. This book is more than just
a manual; it begins by retracing the history of the study of language as
it developed in many different civilizations. The center of interest is
the science of language in the West, with an emphasis on today's
sciences. Proceeding in this way shows linguistic thought to be closely
linked to philosophy and to society. Beyond the technical quarrels
among the various schools, linguistic thought appears basically recep
tive to the adventure of man in his encounter with meaning and
societies. If it is true that the era of humanism is followed by
something, as yet unknown, is it not indispensable to approach this
unknown through language, which is and will always remain more
unknown than man, and coextensive with his being?
This justifies, it seems to me, a new edition of a book written a
dozen years ago, for the questions addressed then are still relevant
today.
J. K.

LANGUAGE: THE UNKNOWN