Open AccessVolochinov, Thackeray et l’enthymème
Author(s) -
JeanJacques Lecercle
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
filozofski vestnik
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.103
H-Index - 7
eISSN - 1581-1239
pISSN - 0353-4510
DOI - 10.3986/fv.41.1.06
Subject(s) - joke , utterance , meaning (existential) , philosophy , realism , representation (politics) , linguistics , literature , content (measure theory) , epistemology , art , mathematics , politics , mathematical analysis , political science , law
The aim of the essay is to revive the philosophy of language of the Soviet linguist Valentin Volochinov, by revisiting his concept of the utterance as enthymeme: the meaning of an utterance is not fully determined by the linguistic system, but is dependent on its insertion in a social situation, which it refracts rather than reflects, thus giving rise to evaluations. The essay proceeds by analysing a number of such enthymemes (a grammatical example, an advertisement, a comedian’s joke), moving towards literature and a definition of a realism of form rather than content, of refraction rather than reflection, examples of which are to be found in the works of Thackeray.