A fundamental element in the further development of Foreign Language Studies (the philologies) is a rethinking of the view of language and of the relationship between language and culture (including literature). In what follows I will present some reflections on this issue, based on my conviction that we need to develop Foreign Language Studies that are characterized by a truly integrative view of language, and by a conceptualization of the relationship between language and culture that clearly transcends the traditional national paradigm. A new foundation is needed for Foreign Language Studies, one that theorizes them as sites of linguistic and cultural encounters in a world that is becoming increasingly globalised. We need to see language as both a social and a cultural phenomenon.