Linguistic signs do not coincide with intended or interpreted meanings. For relevance theory, this theoretical commonplace merely demonstrates the inferential nature of language. For Paul de Man, on the contrary, it suggested that language is unstable, random, arbitrary, mechanical, ironic and inhuman. This book seeks to show that relevance theory is a more plausible account of communication, cognition and literary interpretation than the deconstructionist theory de Man elaborated from readings of Rousseau, Hegel and Nietzsche.
Author Biography
IAN MACKENZIE is an English language teacher, teacher trainer and coursebook writer and the author of numerous articles on linguistics and literary theory. He teaches at the Haute Ecole de Gestion, Lausanne.
