Value in the semiotic tradition

Moments and changes in theoretical reflection

Abstract

This contribution aims to examine the epistemological and theoretical problem relating to the notion of value in general semiology, starting with Saussurean linguistics. Value is in fact the pivot around which synchronic linguistics and diachronic linguistics develop concerning the notion of time and the problem of signification. Saussure’s use of this concept in his oral lectures, later collected and edited by Charles Bally and Albert Sechehaye in the Course in General Linguistics, has been a source of debate among Saussurean exegetes and theorists, with inevitable theorethical and methodological consequences within semiology itself. The paper will trace the debate around the notion of value, starting from its presentation in the CLG, and will propose a reflection on its transformation in the semiotic tradition, in particular in the structural and generative tradition.