Survey article on the work of Michel Pêcheux which combines the results of two other articles concerning respectively Pêcheux's earlier work and his later work, namely: 'Pêcheux's contribution to discourse analysis' (in: Automatic Discourse Analysis, Rodopi: Amsterdam and Atlanta 1995, 3-20) and 'Michel Pêcheux. Ideologiekritiek en dekonstruktie van taaltheorieën' (in: De taal kan barsten, Krisis-Onderzoek: Amsterdam 1991, ix-xx).