Reception, translation and cultural context
Projects for Greimas’s Sémantique structurale (1966) in English, the place of linguistics in the human sciences, and Franco-American disconnections
Thomas F. Broden | Purdue University USA
The initiatives to publish an English translation of the influential Sémantique structurale (1966) by
linguist and semiotician A. J. Greimas (1917–1992) provide an instructive case study for the reception of a work in new contexts. The
efforts underscore the importance of (dis)connections between cultures’ intellectual traditions and trends, putting in play the relations
between continental and American linguistic structuralism, generative semantics, cognitive linguistics, and “French” (post)structuralism
throughout the human sciences. The projects also point up the significance of timing and of standards for translation quality – and the
possibilities for controversy. In addition to published research, this study draws from archival documents and personal communications with
Greimas, his translators and editors, and other principals involved.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.A. J. Greimas and “Sémantique structurale”
- 3.For an English translation of “Sémantique structurale”
- 4.The international diffusion of continental structuralism and new efforts for an English “Structural Semantics”
- 5.Convergences, potential opportunities, and challenges
- 6.Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
-
References
Published online: 09 March 2021
https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.00066.bro
https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.00066.bro
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