Linguistic Diplomacy: Roman Jakobson between East and West, 1956–68

Roman Jakobson remains a crucial figure in the history of linguistics and literary criticism. This paper explores how a mid-twentieth-century intellectual curated his own legacy across Cold War divides. Thinking with Jakobson's own formulation of communication functions, this paper argues for a connection between the success of particular structuralist ideas in academic contexts and the tactical efforts of individual scholars embedded in scholarly institutions. Considered in this light, investigating Roman Jakobson's late career during the period known as the Thaw can move beyond "vulgar biographism" to a better understanding of the different fates of formalism between East and West.