Language in structural and post-structural social theory (Language as a model in social theory)

The most apparent feature of the 20th century intellectual development is to use linguistic studies in order to understand humanity, social history and the principles of how the society works. Linguistic studies started to be effective in social theory particularly in the 1960s and 1970s and language continues to be the one of the main issues in social theory.Language-reality arguments are one of the main subjects that structuralism and post-structuralism focus on. This interest over language is also noticeable in terms of that it shows the changes in the contemporary social theory?s perception of `reality?. In this research, the reasons behind this intensive interest on language in human sciences in 20th century and its transformations were tried to be examined from the frameworks of structuralist view of language which is seen as being ?the construction of a linguistic model of reality? and post-structural approach to language in which ?reality is seen as a unruly thing?.KEYWORDS: Structuralism, Post-Structuralism, Social Sciences, Sociology, Linguistics, Structuralist Linguistics, Deconstruction, Structural Analysis, Discourse Analysis.