Langages et révolutions: nouvelles pratiques, nouvelles théories

Abstract

Languages and Revolutions: New Practices, New Theories

Even if language is extremely important in social life, Marx has not really taken it into account in his writings. However, the practical and political linguistic problems that had emerged during the Russian revolution led theoreticians and linguists to analyze language in a Marxian perspective. This paper aims at reconstructing these linguistic debates generated by the October revolution. Why must a socialist revolution give rise to issues about language that have never been addressed before? To what extend these thoughts could be appreciated as Marxists? These are the questions this article tries to bring an answer.

Keywords: Language, Revolution, Marxism, Soviet linguistics, Lenin, Vološinov, Jakubinskij