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Wilhelm von Humboldt and dialogical thinking

Walker, John (2017) Wilhelm von Humboldt and dialogical thinking. Forum for Modern Language Studies 53 (1), pp. 83-94. ISSN 0015-8518.

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Abstract

The dialogical principle is central not just to Humboldt’s theory of language but also to his philosophical anthropology, and it has a direct political relevance. Dialogue is intrinsic to the realization of human subjectivity in a diverse community of free individuals. Language involves two constitutive principles: the inner linguistic sense (‘innerer Sprachsinn’) and objective sound (‘der Laut’): individual self-expression has meaning only when it is reflected back in the voice of another. The diversity (‘Verschiedenheit’) of languages and their comparative study is not just essential to our understanding of our own languages as well as those of others; it is intrinsic to the nature of language as such. Translation is thus a privileged route to cultural as well as linguistic communication. Keywords: Dialogue; language; subjectivity; community; diversity; Verschiedenheit; inner linguistic sense; objective sound; translation; culture; communication

Metadata

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication following peer review. The version of record is available online at the link above.
Keyword(s) / Subject(s): dialogue, language, subjectivity, community, diversity, Verschiedenheit, inner linguistic sense, objective sound, translation, culture, communication
School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication
Depositing User: John Walker
Date Deposited: 23 Jun 2017 07:45
Last Modified: 17 Jul 2025 06:07
URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/19025

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