Modern Times and the universal language of nonsense

This Thursday's class, we discussed (and debated) the arbitrary nature of words and language. Dr. Cummings briefly referenced Modern Times, a film by Charlie Chaplin. I watched it this weekend (the link to the full movie is at the bottom of this post) and I thought it definitely underscored some of de Saussure’s points. While Modern Times is largely known for its ridicule and criticism of industrial America, there’s an incredible scene at the end where Chaplin is forced to sing a song that he’s forgotten the lyrics to. It’s the first time Chaplin’s voice is ever heard on film (the movie was originally supposed to be a “Talkie,” but Chaplin chose his preferred format of the silent film); at the very end of the movie that has until this moment been silent (or overlaid with a few sound effects) he breaks from consistency to perform a version of Leo Daniderff’s song Je cherche après Titine: but Chaplin sings it in gibberish. It’s been popularly dubbed The Nonsense Song, and for good reason. Although some words are derived from French and Italian, the song is utterly nonsensical.

However, as Chaplin’s character sings, he also pantomimes and dances to a storyline that the audience in Modern Times apparently understands perfectly. They laugh and ooh and ah as if they understand exactly what Chaplin is saying, which seems to support (albeit in a ludicrous, satirical way) de Saussure’s assertion that all language is arbitrary. Chaplin’s words, while unintelligible to us, seem to make perfect sense to the people in the world of Modern Times, who appear to have attached meaning to words that exist in no language, and are in fact just slices of sound. From what I interpreted of de Saussure’s argument, I imagine he would support this possibility, as he seems to argue that the very arbitrary nature of language itself is, in fact, what gives words meaning – “Since one vocal image is no better suited than the next for what it is commissioned to express, it is evident… that a segment of language can never be based on anything except its noncoincidence with the rest” (9).

While it’s unlikely that Chaplin wrote this scene with the intention of supporting a linguist’s argument on the arbitrary nature of language (and perhaps as more of a critique of the value placed on machines and technology through industrialization, and humanity’s ability to project meaning into the meaningless), it nonetheless serves as an interesting parodic reflection of de Saussure’s argument. Even without this last scene, Modern Times was an amazing movie. I highly recommend it to anyone who can make an hour and half of free time.

Here's the full movie on YouTube!