Chapter Six Propositions (1)
- Six theses
The construction – or reconstruction – is already
under way. To re-read the texts of Marxist thinkers
on language as a tradition, even if they are sometimes
mere fragments, indicates a framework for what a
Marxist philosophy of language should look like.
This is the framework I am now going to try to flesh
out. And, since I am an old Althusserian Marxist, I
am going to proceed by theses – six in all: a main
thesis, four positive theses that develop the main
thesis, and a concluding thesis. I shall state them at
once: this and the subsequent chapter will be devoted
to commenting on them.
Main thesis: language is a form of praxis.
First positive thesis: language is a historical
phenomenon.
Second positive thesis: language is a social phenomenon.
Third positive thesis: language is a material
phenomenon.
Fourth positive thesis: language is a political
phenomenon.
Concluding thesis: language is the site of subjectivation
through interpellation.
The formulation of these theses will not surprise
anyone who has read the previous chapters.
Negatively, they abandon the dominant philosophy of
