ABSTRACT
Originally delivered as a lecture at the symposium Multilingual, 2.0? in Tucson (13 April 2012), this essay by Holquist-the eminent Slavic scholar, comparatist, and translator of Mikhail Bakhtin-explores the ontological instability of any distinction among multilingual, monolingual, and bilingual phenomena and practices. Drawing on Wilhelm von Humboldt, Noam Chomsky, and recently re-discovered writings of Ferdinand de Saussure, the essay deepens Holquist's career-long exploration of the dialogical nature and grounding of linguistic practice, as well its implications for future theory-making in multilingualism studies.
KEYWORDS:
Bakhtin; Saussure; Signification; Dialogism; Parole; Chomsky