Ferdinand de Saussure and Paul de Man are theorists of different epochs. Yet they focus on the same theme of linguistics. Saussure created the theory in the book Course in General Linguistics while de Man wrote an essay called “Semiology and Rhetoric.” Their theorist share many similarities. But, at the same time, there are many differences in both literary works.

Saussure, as well as de Man, agrees that linguistics should be focused on the structure of language itself and how they convey meaning instead of just the meaning itself. Saussure states that linguistics “never attempted to determine the nature of the object it was studying, and without this elementary operation a science cannot develop an appropriate method.” In this statement Saussure also asserts that the methods of linguistics fail to decipher language itself, and thus, new techniques should me developed. De Man says something similar; he says that: “The code is unusually conspicuous, complex, and enigmatic; it attracts and inordinate amount of attention and this attention has to acquire the rigor of a method.” In other words, de Man also agrees that linguistics needs to develop more techniques to study language. One minor difference in their ideals is that Saussure refers to the creation of a new science called semiology; de Man refers to focus on studying intrinsic formalism.

Another way in which these theorists agree is in the structure of language. Saussure defines language as a “system of signs.” Every sentence, phrase, and moreover, word is a sign. A sign in composed by a signified, the concept or idea, and the signifier, the sound-image. This is the most basic structure of language defined by Saussure. De Man talks about the same concept using the terms “form and content.” Form is language it self and how it convey meaning while content is the concept that we try to convey. When a word is spoken, the sound pups up an image in our heads that is connected to a concept.

However, Saussure and de Man disagree on the degree to which the function of signifier and signified is true.

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