Creativity in language and expression

Merleau-Ponty and Saussure's principle of analogy

Petronella A. Foultier

Stockholms universitet

pp. 47-68

in: Beata Stawarska, Patrick R. Flack (eds), Merleau-Ponty and structuralism, Acta Structuralica 2, 2018.

Abstract

For Merleau-Ponty, the question of phenomenological method was always connected to the problem of expression, in that the results of successful expression can for him amount to a catching of the world “in its nascent state” (“à l’état naissant”). In other words, elucidating the phenomena as they show themselves demands a certain amount of creativity to come through. But even though creative expression is without doubt of chief importance for Merleau-Ponty, it is not so easy to determine what exactly it consists in. Minimally, it is more demanding than simply repeating an already formulated expression. On the other hand, it cannot start from nothing – we must begin within an existing tradition, with its acquired expressions, that we somehow take up and transform. A recurrent image of creative expression comes from Malraux, who claimed that it is a “coherent deformation” of what is given in the world. In this paper, I will use Saussure’s principle of analogy to throw light upon the notion of coherent deformation and of creativity. Although Merleau-Ponty merely mentions this principle in passing, I argue that it can clarify the productivity of language that he saw as crucial also for Saussure’s linguistics.

Cited authors

Merleau-Ponty Maurice

de Saussure Ferdinand