This work investigates whether Ferdinand de Saussure's linguistic theories have been fundamentally misrepresented by the structuralist doctrine derived from his posthumous 'Course in General Linguistics'. Beata Stawarska, a scholar of philosophy, utilizes archival research and critical analysis of Saussure's original manuscripts to argue that his work aligns more closely with phenomenology than with the rigid structuralism attributed to him by his editors. She posits that the 'Course' functions as a flawed editorial construct that obscures Saussure's focus on the speaking subject and the lived experience of language.

Scholars in the field of continental philosophy and linguistic theory recognize this text as a rigorous challenge to established structuralist interpretations of Saussure. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which requires a strong background in phenomenological terminology to fully grasp the author's arguments.