Resumen

BATTISTA, Emiliano. Saussure in the discourse of the Institute of Philology of the University of Buenos Aires. Anu. let. lingüíst. filol. [online]. 2017, vol.5, n.2, pp.5-34.  Epub 24-Ene-2022. ISSN 2448-8224.  https://doi.org/10.19130/iifl.adel.5.2.2017.1451.

Criticism agrees to grant a symbolic value to the publication of the Course of General Linguistics (1916) of Saussure (Benveniste, 1980; Koerner, 1982; Thibault, 1997; Engler, 2004; Joseph, 2012), since it is considered that the founding principles and the epistemological assumptions of the work have led to substantial changes in the modern development of the discipline. The emergence of linguistics in Argentina, since the creation of the Institute of Philology of the University of Buenos Aires, was not alien to the Saussurean epistemological turn. In line with the debate between positivism and idealism as two antagonistic perspectives for the study of the language, the activity of the Institute during its period of emergence and consolidation (1922-1946) aimed to evaluate (and incorporate) the contributions of contemporary linguistic theories. It is then possible to infer the first receptions and (eventual) spreading of the Course by analysing certain communications delivered by Montolíu (1926a, 1926b) and Alonso (1928, 1932, 1943, 1945), two of the directors of the Institute. Specifically, these two Spanish philologists were at first in tune with the scientific modernisation of Saussure’s thought, because they understood it was representative of a spiritualistic view of language. Sometime later, Alonso made new interpretations of Saussure’s work, until 1945, when he prefaced his own Spanish translation of the Course. In his prologue he posits that the Course embodied the consolidation of positivism.

Palabras llave : Saussure; Institute of Philology; Argentina; Montolíu; Alonso.