Saussure Reading

Well I certainly hope that this is the most difficult reading we will have to get through this year, it was quite a lot of content to attempt to wade through. One thought that I kept on coming back to when reading Saussure, was how iron clad he made language sound to be. Granted, I agree with his statements such as language is both past and present at the same time, and individual and social. If we all spoke our own different language, we would never be able to have a functioning society. While I was reading about how language and symbols are inhereted, I couldn't help but remember a book I read once (title and author forgotten, this was many a year ago) about a little girl whose father was a scientist. He conditioned his daughter from birth to speak in opposites of the english language (up was down, father was mother etc.). It was interesting to read about the struggles that she had trying to communicate even on the most basic level. I don't know if this is just me, but the concept of language being a strict set of rules in a society is mildly scary. Language has never really been something I've given much thought to (atleast in relation to its origins or meaning), but how Saussure wrote of the strict and rigorous way humans adhere to their language makes me wonder about the freedom of thoughts and expression if the very way we are able to express our thoughts is so conformed to society's rules. It seems that language both frees us to express our thoughts, but traps us in the way we can explain them.

Those were just some of my thoughts on the readings for tomorrow. I'll see you guys in class tomorrow!
Jessica Hanlon