Language and communication in a structuralist society

Abstract

In what ways does the structuralist paradigm of language speak to the underlying constructs of human communication and modern society? How the dynamics of a postmodern society can be understood, while these dynamics remain largely structuralist? In order to answer these two broad questions, I consider in my analysis that language is both a system, and an abstraction of the social structure . By considering the nexus among language, communication, and society, I reflect on how communication is a form of social and symbolic action, which calls up issues of ideology, power and dominance; thus, communication is not just considered as a linear cybernetic transfer of information. As the global society, the African society faces challenges and constraints because of these constructs The contribution of this article lies in the emphasis of the links which exist between these challenges and these contraints. The paper concludes that studying societies through the structuralist paradigm allows us to see in great detail the position of the self in relation to hegemonic and power dominance. In a word, when we communicate we must be political; our communicative acts are in themselves, mutatis mutandis, partisan and ideologically motivated