"In a language there are only differences without positive terms.
Whether we take the signified or the signifier, the language
contains neither ideas nor sounds that pre-exist the linguistic
system, but only conceptual differences and phonic differences
issuing from this system." (From the posthumous Course in General
Linguistics, 1916.)
No one becomes as famous as Saussure without both admirers and
detractors reducing them to a paragraph's worth of ideas that can
be readily quoted, debated, memorized, and examined. One can argue
the ideas expressed above - that language is composed of a system
of acoustic oppositions (the signifier) matched by social
convention to a system of conceptual oppositions (the signified) -
have in some sense become "Saussure," while the human being, in all
his complexity, has disappeared. In the first comprehensive
biography of Ferdinand de Saussure, John Joseph restores the full
character and history of a man who is considered the founder of
modern linguistics and whose ideas have influenced literary theory,
philosophy, cultural studies, and virtually every other branch of
humanities and the social sciences.
Through a far-reaching account of Saussure's life and the time in
which he lived, we learn about the history of Geneva, of Genevese
educational institutions, of linguistics, about Saussure's
ancestry, about his childhood, his education, the fortunes of his
relatives, and his personal life in Paris. John Joseph intersperses
all these discussions with accounts of Saussure's research and the
courses he taught highlighting the ways in which knowing about his
friendships and family history can help us understand not only his
thoughts and ideas but also his utter failure to publish any major
work after the age of twenty-one.
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