Milan Kundera’s Polyphonic Compositions

Abstract

I would like to preface this paper by saying, first, that my concern here is a carry-over from our previous meetings where we were primarily interested in discerning how we might define, or in some way delineate, the relation of the elemental forces of nature with the human experience of language. My thinking has less to do with “soulful passions” per se, therefore, than with situating or locating the foundation of linguistic meaning in some fundamental relation to the physical world.

Si I’on efface la différence radicale entre signifiant et signifié, c’est le mot de signifiant lui-même qu’il faudrait abandonner comme concept métaphysique.

Jacques Derrida