Moving on from his previous book, Superstructuralism

Richard Harland argues that the focus on single words in the structuralist theory of language is its key weakness and that the next advance beyond post-structuralism depends upon replacing word-based with syntagm-based theories.

In a lucid way he develops a new syntagmatic theory which shows that the effect of combining words grammatically can transform the very nature of meaning.

The wide breadth of coverage in the book covers both post-Chomskyan linguistics and Derrida, and sets up an opposition to analytic and speech-act views of language.

By presenting a systematic critique and counter-proposal, Harland challenges the very foundation of recent literary and language based theory.