Kolm Saussure'i
Three Saussures

Summary/Abstract: This article constitutes an attempt to differentiate between and compare three versions of Ferdinand de Saussure: 1) the Saussure of the Course in General Linguistics; 2) Saussure as a teacher reflected in the notes and transcripts of his students; 3) the „real” Saussure of his own personal notes. The most well known and frequently quoted Saussure is undoubtedly the Saussure of the Course in General Linguistics. However, it is important to remember that the Course was compiled and published posthumously by Saussure’s colleagues rather than by the man himself. Furthermore, many researchers believe that this work gives an erroneous impression of Saussure’s intellectual heritage as it is, for the most part, a fabrication or an epistemological myth. The lecture notes and transcripts of Saussure’s students allow us to see that Saussure’s positions on general linguistics were less coherent and final that the Course leads us to believe. On the contrary – his views were far from academic maturity and served as a constant source of doubt, contradictions and reformulation, most of all for Saussure himself. The same conclusion follows from Saussure’s personal notes, especially from his self-critical statement about not being prepared to make any final claims in the field of general linguistics. This admission also explains why Saussure declined to publish anything on general linguistics until the end of his life. While studying Saussure’s heritage, it is of utmost importance to keep in mind that at least two other Saussures exist in addition to the Saussure known to us from the Course. It seems that studying these alternate versions of the great linguist will be the main objective of future research into Ferdinand de Saussure.

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