Material repeatability is a defining characteristic of the statement. It is also a kind of paradox: if we identify a single statement solely on the basis of its specific material existence, that statement will never be truly repeatable (it will be a different statement with each new articulation); but if we identify a statement solely on the basis of what it ‘means’ (i.e., its propositional content), that statement can be repeated ad infinitum, without regard to the differences in its material, time-space coordinates. The aspect of articulated language that Foucault designates ‘statement,’ however, lies between these two poles. Its material coordinates are important, but not absolutely binding. Two sentences printed at different times (even, in some cases, with different words) may be identical as statements, and two sentences with exactly the same content (i.e., the same words) may constitute two different statements. ‘Material repeatability’ refers to the first of these two possibilities, in which the statement is both materially based and repeatable.
