La parole comme problème ontologique. Merleau-Ponty et l’analyse du discours

In this study, I hypothetically trace some vanishing point for the analysis of discourse as it was developed by Michel Pêcheux in the period between the 1960s and 1970s. In order to do that, I refer to the analyses that Maurice Merleau-Ponty devoted to linguistic facts, in particular to literary speech. The use of the Cours de linguistique générale by these two authors constitutes the leverage point for developing the analysis of three orientations: the semantic orientation; the subjective orientation; the ontological orientation. In the course of this analysis, we will see how the theoretical positions of Pêcheux and Merleau-Ponty, although opposed, can be put in tension. I will measure their relationship through a certain number of theses.