In this interview, we talk to Nick Riemer about how linguistic theory and political ideology can interact.

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References for Episode 40

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Transcript by Luca Dinu

JMc: Hi, I’m James McElvenny, and you’re listening to the History and Philosophy of the Language Sciences podcast, online at hiphilangsci.net. [00:18 ] There you can find links and references to all the literature we discuss. [00:22 ] Today we’re joined by Nick Riemer, who’s lecturer in linguistics and English at the University of Sydney in Australia, and also associated with the Laboratory History of Linguistic Theories in Paris. [00:35 ] Nick has a broad range of interests in the study of language, [00:39 ] most notably in semantics, history and philosophy of linguistics, and the politics of linguistics. [00:45 ] It’s these political dimensions of linguistic scholarship that Nick is going to talk to us about today. [00:51 ] His current project is a monograph on the politics of linguistics since Saussure. [00:58 ] So Nick, what have the politics of linguistics been like since Saussure? [01:02 ]

NR: Thanks a lot for inviting me on the podcast, James, and obviously, there’s no single answer [01:09 ] to that question. In fact, many linguists since Saussure have denied that there is any [01:16 ] connection between linguistics and politics. It’s a surprisingly common declaration that [01:22 ] you come across linguists making throughout the 20th century that these two things actually [01:28 ] have no connection. And it’s sort of reflected, I think, in the conventional historiography of linguistics. [01:36 ] I mean, you can tell me whether you agree with this, but it seems to me that the way we usually [01:41 ] talk about linguistics and politics is by talking about how particular ideas and theories [01:46 ] and frameworks in linguistics might reflect external trends in society and politics. It’s [01:54 ] often struck me that that’s a sort of overly passive way of construing the relationship, and it ignores [02:00 ] the fact that linguistics doesn’t just reflect what’s going on outside. It also contributes [02:06 ] to it, shapes it, plays an