[This book] occupies a place of unique importance in the history of Western thinking about man in society. It is a key text not only within the development of linguistics but also in the formation of that broader intellectual movement of the twentieth century known as 'structuralism.' -Translator's introd. Saussure's teaching at the University of Geneva during 1907-1911 revolutionized modern views of language. Instead of words being seen as peripheral to understanding of reality, understanding of reality came to be seen as revolving around the social use of verbal signs. [This book], reconstructed from students' notes after Saussure's death in 1913, founded modern linguistic theory, by breaking the study of language free from a merely historical and comparativist approach. Saussure's new method, now known as Structuralism, has since been applied to such diverse areas as art, architecture, anthropology, economics, folklore, literary criticism, and philosophy.-Back cover.