The historiography of generative linguistics by András Kertész (review)

The great diversity of contemporary linguistic theories is well known and has been illustrated by a number of publications showcasing the various approaches. A few of the most recent volumes of this kind are Kiss & Alexiadou 2015, Bond et al. 2016, Müller 2016, and Stewart 2016. However, the similarly wide-ranging assessments and evaluations of the individual theories have not so far been given a comprehensive overview in the literature. The present volume does just this for the family of approaches known as Noam Chomsky's generative grammar. Gleaning from the literature of the last forty years, András Kertész presents a broad spectrum of the diverging evaluations of this theory and suggests a novel interpretation of the historical process that has given rise to its different versions.

Bookended by an introduction and a concluding chapter, the volume consists of two main parts. The introduction defines the central problem of the book: 'What historiographical framework, central hypothesis and basic terms can account for the history of generative linguistics?' (14; italics original). Part 1, titled 'Metahistoriographical overview', describes twenty-two alternative positions on this question, with each discussed in a separate subsection of the chapters. This well-balanced survey of the literature spanning the entire lifetime of the theory to date includes both positive and negative evaluations by linguists such as Cedric Boeckx, Randy Allan Harris, Konrad Koerner, Stephan Kornmesser, Robin Lakoff, James McCawley, Stephen Murray, Frederick Newmeyer, and Pieter Seuren, and concludes with Chomsky's self-assessment (86–88). Part 2, 'Toward a new historiography', outlines an alternative historiographical approach proposed by K, demonstrates its applicability, and lists questions left open for further work. The concluding chapter returns to the central question raised in the introduction, highlights the author's answer to it, and assesses its significance for linguistics historiography and linguistic theory. The presentation has a clear structure with well-defined goals and a relentlessly logical flow with intermediate summaries and previews. Notes appear as footnotes; there are indices of names and subjects at the end.

In Part 1, K surveys a set of reviews that focus on five milestone works by Chomsky published between 1957 and 1995: Syntactic structures (1957), Aspects of the theory of syntax (1965), The sound pattern of English (Chomsky & Halle 1968), Lectures on government and binding (1981), and The minimalist program (1995). A separate chapter is devoted to each. Each chapter is an independent unit while also forming a coherent narrative with the others. Due to the monumental influence of Thomas Kuhn's 1962 book The structure of scientific revolutions, one third of the assessments that K analyzes are based on Kuhn's philosophy of science (summarized on pp. 15–19); the remaining assessments assume other frameworks. There are three major issues that the various accounts address. One is continuity: is generative grammar a continuation of Bloomfieldian and neo-Bloomfieldian linguistics, or does it constitute a break? Second, if it is a break, can generative grammar be considered revolutionary, and if so, which of Chomsky's five works created a revolution? Third, has generative grammar been a positive step forward, or is it to be viewed as a decline in linguistic theorizing?

The chapters of Part 1 have a uniform structure. In each, K first synopsizes the work by Chomsky that is at issue. This is then followed by the central theses of the evaluators (marked by T1, T2, etc., where T stands for 'Thesis'), with the emerging solutions to the central problem of the book distilled into compact statements (marked as SP1, SP2, etc., where SP stands for 'Solution (to the central) Problem (of the book)'). Thus, the seminal points of Part 1 can be conveniently extracted by locating the twenty-two Ts and SPs in the text. The descriptions of the accounts are supported by copious verbatim quotes. The twenty-two approaches are summarized, compared, charted (88–103), and evaluated by K in terms of six general...