The Margins of Meaning: Arguments for a Postmodern Approach to Language and TextThe title of this book is inspired by Jacques Derrida and by his seminal work, The Margins of Philosophy. The study of meaning in the past thirty years has focused on core meaning, and largely ignored the margins of meaning, where much of the power of language is to be found. The present work seeks to shift this focus by taking a postmodern approach that sees meaning as an accretion of verbal, social, cultural and personal sign systems, with fluid boundaries that shrink or expand with each meaner.Chapter 1 begins with a brief examination of present-day approaches to meaning, and goes on to a deconstruction of four twentieth century linguists. Chapter 2 takes as its starting point two aspects of the 20th century scientific paradigm, non-deterministic causation and relativity, and considers a number of thinkers who have worked within this paradigm. A major aim of this work is to convince students and teachers of literary theory, cultural studies and feminist theory of the validity of a linguistics of indeterminacy, so Chapter 3 focuses on an analytical approach that models indeterminacy in language, and Chapter 4 applies the model to a newspaper editorial, a Wallace Stevens' poem, and an extract from a Patrick White novel. |
Contents
1 | |
Potentiality and Relativity | 36 |
Analysing Indeterminacy | 78 |
A Postmodern Approach | 105 |
Discourse as Poaching the Case | 165 |
178 | |
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abduction analysis answer appear approach to language arcuate fasciculus Austin behaviour Broca's area Certeau chapter Chomsky clause cognitive concept connections connotative semiotics deautomatized grammar dehiscence Derrida dichotomy discourse dualism explains fact force-field function grocer Halliday Halliday's hemisphere Hjelmslev Hofstadter Hurtle Hurtle's icons idea indeterminacy intention intentionality interpersonal interpretation iterability Jakobson language and text langue Leonard Bloomfield limbic system linguistic Louis Hjelmslev meaning metafunctions metaphorical metaphysics of presence neural Noam Chomsky non-deterministic causation P:behavioural P:material P:rel P:verbal particle waves particle-wave patterns Peirce Peirce's performative phonological phrase poem possible postmodern postmodern approach principle of difference question reader realised reference reticular formation rhizome right brain Saussure Saussure's Saussurean scriptural economy Searle semantic semiotic sentence signified social sound Soviet speech act theory structure symbols systemic-functional grammar tagmemes technolinguistic textual thematic cluster thematic system relating thinking in signs thought transformational-generative grammar unconscious utterance verbal Vivisector Wernicke's area Whorf words
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Page 7 - In separating language from speaking we are at the same time separating: (1) what is social from what is individual; and (2) what is essential from what is accessory and more or less accidental.