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Lecture by Professor John E. Joseph

On 7 May 2025 at 10:15, the Institute of English Studies at the University of Wrocław will host an open lecture organised as part of the IDUB programme. The lecture, entitled “Malinowski and the Eternal Return of the Speaker”, will be delivered by Professor John E. Joseph (University of Edinburgh, Scotland).

About lecture
From its beginnings in the 19th century to the soon-to-begin second quarter of the 21st century, modern linguistics has witnessed a series of attempts to disengage language from its users – in particular, their bodies, and their wilful agency. Some of the field’s greatest successes can be described in this way, including the structuralism that developed out of Ferdinand de Saussure’s Course in General Linguistics, the behaviourism of Leonard Bloomfield, the transformational-generativism of Noam Chomsky and the cognitive linguistics that arose in its wake. In each case, there have been counter-movements to reinstate the speaker at the centre of the conceptual and analytic framework; and all are partly traceable in one way or another to Bronisław Malinowski. Born in Kraków in 1884, Malinowski made his career first in London, and eventually at Yale University. His professional identity was as an anthropologist rather than a linguist, and this perhaps helped enable him to think outside the disciplinary box. In this lecture I shall consider how particular aspects of Malinowski’s thought have impacted upon linguistics, and how they still have the potential to reshape our understanding of language today. 

Bio
Professor John E. Joseph (University of Edinburgh) is one of the leading contemporary scholars in the history of linguistics. As the author of Saussure (Oxford University Press, 2012) and President (2019–2024) of the Cercle Ferdinand de Saussure, founded in Paris in 1957, he is a globally recognised authority on structuralism and, more broadly, on the French linguistic tradition of the twentieth century (also noted for his translations of the works of Émile Benveniste).

His monograph Language, Mind and Body: A Conceptual History (Cambridge University Press, 2018), as well as Landmarks of Linguistic Thought Volume II: The Western Tradition in the Twentieth Century (Routledge, 2001), co-authored with Talbot Taylor and Nigel Love, are essential reference points for scholars and students interested in the place of linguistics within the broader intellectual and scientific movements of its time.

As a member of editorial boards, including that of Language & Communication, founded by Roy Harris, and Historiographia Linguistica, he has played an active role in shaping key academic debates. Since 1997, he has combined an active research career with extensive teaching at the University of Edinburgh. He is also a member of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters.

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We warmly invite you to attend!