Borrowing a certain structure and filling it with new content is a model widely used for creation of new texts and for the cultural evolution in general. The identification and description of such models is a significant feature of the structuralist view of culture. However, the strict separation of structure and content overlooks the process of «lexicalization» of the structure. This article distinguishes two types of such «lexicalization», illustrated by a few examples. Special attention is paid to the theo-ry of social contract, the emergence and individual features of which can also be examined within this scope.
Keywords
lexicalization; structuralism; typology; social contract; propagation of cultural texts.