Lexicography, Science, and Society. With an Addendum: 30 Years Later

Abstract

The paper Lexicography, Science, and Society was originally published in the first issue of the Yugoslav Institute of Lexicography's journal LEXIS, leksikografska istraživanja (1986). That journal soon ceased publication, so the mentioned paper remained relatively obscure. From the standpoint of the philosophy of science, the paper, somewhat under the critical influence of the then »undesirable« Karl Popper, examined the relationship between lexicography and society with noticeable, albeit somewhat Aesopian, polemic tones in regard to the then predominant, or mandatory, lexicographic, ideological, and political paradigm. This was the reason why the editorial board of the Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography's new, today widely recognised journal Studia lexicographica requested permission to republish this old paper and in doing so »legalise« it, now in a completely different social, political, scholarly, lexicographical, and even technological-communication context, with a possible addendum in order to make it more up-to-date. Thus, the mentioned paper is published here in its original form, with minimal proofreading intervention and several explanations, which are indicated in parentheses; the reader should take into account the manner of expression characteristic for the time when the paper was written. The goal of the second part of the paper (Addendum: 30 Years later) is to revive the topic of the »foundation of lexicography« in its current, new, and significantly altered context. I believe that the core tenets of lexicography as a »critical science or profession« remain as valid today as they were during that time, that they can serve for the benefit of internal lexicography and methodological and even philosophical-scholarly discussion, even though the society that they were originally critical of has changed; this is the topic of the Addendum following the original paper.