
The Limits of Structuralism
Forgotten Texts in the History of Modern Linguistics
James McElvenny(Editor)
Oxford University Press
Published on 23. March 2023
Book
Hardback
336 pages
978-0-19-284904-5 (ISBN)
Description
Based around seven primary texts spanning 130 years, this volume explores the conceptual boundaries of structuralism, a scholarly movement and associated body of doctrines foundational to modern linguistics and many other humanities and social sciences. Each chapter in the volume presents a classic - and yet today underappreciated - text that addresses questions crucial to the evolution of structuralism. The texts are made accessible to present-day English-speaking readers through translation and extensive critical notes; each text is also accompanied by a detailed introduction that places it in its intellectual and historical context and outlines the insights that it contains. The volume reveals the complex genealogy of our ideas and enriches our understanding of their contemporary form and use.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 165 mm
Thickness: 41 mm
Weight
658 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-284904-5 (9780192849045)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
03/2023
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€63.49
Available for download
Person
James McElvenny is a researcher in the Special Collaborative Research Centre 'Media of Co-operation' at the University of Siegen, having previously held positions at the University of Potsdam and the University of Edinburgh. He is a linguist and historian of science whose research focuses on the history of modern linguistics, and his books include Form and Formalism in Linguistics (Language Science Press, 2019) and Gabelentz and the Science of Language (Amsterdam University Press, 2019).
Content
The contributors
1: James McElvenny: Scouting the limits of structuralism
2: Floris Solleveld: 'Primitive structures', polysynthesis, and Peter Stephen du Ponceau
3: Margaret Thomas: Franz Boas' 'purely analytical approach' to language classification in the backdrop to American structuralism
4: James McElvenny: Georg von der Gabelentz's typology: Humboldtian linguistics on the threshold of structuralism
5: John E. Joseph: Grammaticalization and the sentimental evolution of Antoine Meillet
6: Patrick Seriot: Roman Jakobson, language unions, and structuralism in Russia: Encounter or misunderstanding?
7: Lorenzo Cigana: Louis Hjelmslev on the correlational structure of language: The place within the system
8: Chloe Laplantine: Emile Benveniste on the relation between linguistic and social structures: 'Let us then consider that language interprets society'
References
Index
1: James McElvenny: Scouting the limits of structuralism
2: Floris Solleveld: 'Primitive structures', polysynthesis, and Peter Stephen du Ponceau
3: Margaret Thomas: Franz Boas' 'purely analytical approach' to language classification in the backdrop to American structuralism
4: James McElvenny: Georg von der Gabelentz's typology: Humboldtian linguistics on the threshold of structuralism
5: John E. Joseph: Grammaticalization and the sentimental evolution of Antoine Meillet
6: Patrick Seriot: Roman Jakobson, language unions, and structuralism in Russia: Encounter or misunderstanding?
7: Lorenzo Cigana: Louis Hjelmslev on the correlational structure of language: The place within the system
8: Chloe Laplantine: Emile Benveniste on the relation between linguistic and social structures: 'Let us then consider that language interprets society'
References
Index