In the fields of literary hermeneutics and text theory, Manfred Frank seeks a patient and critical engagement with the theories of French semiologists. He critically follows the turns of Lacan and Derrida against the subject philosophy of hermeneutics, as well as their objections to the fetishism of the rule and convention models of Anglo-Saxon philosophy, specifically the speech act theory developed by Austin and Searle. By referencing Schleiermacher and Humboldt, he demonstrates that there can be no continuous transition between the level of the sign system and its respective singular application. If anywhere, it is in this gap that the place of the subject lies. However, his (now inconspicuous) achievement risks falling into oblivion and the unspeakable if it is subjected to a tautological and undialectical approach.