French Literature Reviews - 2026
A.-G. Toutain, The Phonological Problematic: Linguistic Structuralism as a Scientific Ideology
Literary Theory, Linguistics and Stylistics
Anne-Gaëlle Toutain, La Problématique phonologique. Du structuralisme linguistique comme idéologie scientifique, Paris: Classiques Garnier ("Domaines linguistiques"), 2015, 609 p.
EAN13: 9782812436802
75 EUR
Publisher's Description
This book aims to demonstrate the empirical nature of the structuralist phonological problematic, which radically distinguishes it from the Saussurean theory of which it nevertheless claimed to be the heir. In this respect, linguistic structuralism emerges as a scientific ideology in the sense of Canguilhem.
Table of Contents
Abbreviations used for the corpus texts
Introduction
Part One: From Concept to Object, or the Given of Structure
Jakobson, or the Continuist Reading of Saussure
- Reading Saussurean Texts: From Value to Function
- Phonological Problematic and the Integration of the Phonic Element into Language
Martinet: Language as a Functional Reality
- Integration of the Phonic Element into Language
- The Linguistic Nature of Sound: Phoneme, Function, and Relevance
- The Principle of Relevance and the Analytical Perspective: From Classification to Functional Reality
- Language as a Functional Reality: Between Representation and Revelation
Benveniste and Hjelmslev: Phonological Problematic and Structuralism
- Benveniste: Phonological Problematic and the Structural "Paradigm"
- Hjelmslev: The Phonological Problematic as a Problematic of Form/Substance Relations
Part Two: The Scientific Ideology of Structuralism
Linguistic Structuralism and Imported Scientificity
- The Model of the "Exact Sciences"
- Jakobsonian Invariance: Gnoseology and Imported Scientificity
Martinet and the Principle of Relevance: The Phonological Problematic as a Counter-Theoretical Problematic
- Reality and Observability
- The Principle of Relevance as a Gnoseological Principle: Martinet's Abstraction
- The Principle of Relevance and the Problematic of Sound/Meaning Relations: Language as a Principle of Analysis
Abstraction in Linguistics
- Hjelmslev: Form and Abstraction
- Benveniste: Structure, Theory, and Object
Conclusion
Appendix 1: Chronological Bibliographies
Appendix 2: Diagram of the Speech Circuit from the Harvard Manuscripts
Bibliography
Index rerum
Index nominum
Table of Corpus Texts
Drawing upon the epistemological framework of Georges Canguilhem, this volume investigates how structuralist linguistics established its scientific credentials during the twentieth century. The author examines key figures including Roman Jakobson, André Martinet, Émile Benveniste, and Louis Hjelmslev, tracing how their respective approaches negotiated the transition from abstract linguistic concepts to empirical objects. By analyzing the theoretical maneuvers that separated structural phonology from orthodox Saussurean doctrine, the text sheds light on the internal tensions defining modern linguistic discourse and the importation of exact-science models into human sciences.
This rigorous examination will appeal to scholars, graduate students, and researchers specializing in the history of linguistics, structuralist thought, and the philosophy of science. It offers valuable perspectives for those seeking to understand the epistemological foundations of phonological analysis and the complex relationship between theoretical abstraction and observable linguistic reality. Readers interested in the history of ideas and the institutionalization of scientific ideologies within academic disciplines will find this comprehensive study an essential resource for contextualizing mid-century European structuralism.