I have been working recently on the text of C. K. Ogden and I. A.
Richards's once widely read book The Meaning of Meaning (1923, 2nd
Ed. 1926) for an edition of Richards' writings between 1919-1938, and
it seems to me that this study probably deserves an honourable
mention in any history of the development of pragmatics, in general,
and, specifically, Relevance Theory (see, for example, the authors'
attitude to Saussurean semiotics, and, more broadly, their 'causal'
approach to meaning).
I do not mean to suggest that it is required reading for contemporary
researchers - far from it - merely that if you happen to be curious
about the genesis of pragmatics and RT, then The Meaning of Meaning
should be added to what, admittedly, is already a long list of
ancestors.
I would, however, be interested to know whether The Meaning of
Meaning has been or still is particularly important for any of you,
or whether you think it has a particularly important place in the
history. Being so close to the book at present I find it hard to
judge, and am perhaps over-inclined to see it as fundamentally
connected.
Feel free to reply off-list if you prefer.
--John Constable (Dr) College Lecturer in English Magdalene College Cambridge CB3 0AG UK.
email: jbc12@cam.ac.uk
Cambridge Phones: (01223) 332151 or (01223) 460103
Suffolk Phones: (01728) 663390 or (01728) 663799
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