Language and Materialism

First published in 1977, this book presents a comprehensive and lucid guide through the labyrinths of semiology and structuralism. The authors consider the early presuppositions of structuralism and semiology, and how they were challenged by later work, and how they have impacted on theories of language and artistic practice. The book explains how the encounter of psychoanalysis and Marxism on the ground of their common problem — language — has produced a new understanding of society and its subjects. It produces a critical re-examination of the traditional Marxist theory of ideology, together with the concepts of sign and identity of the subject.