Language as a social phenomenon In his treatment of language as a 'social fact', Saussure touches on topics that were controversial in his time, and that would continue to split opinions in the post-war structuralist movement. Saussure's relationship with 19th-century theories of language was somewhat ambivalent. These included social Darwinism and Völkerpsychologie or Volksgeist thinking which were regarded by many intellectuals as nationalist and racist pseudoscience.
Language as a social phenomenon In his treatment of language as a 'social fact' Saussure touches on topics that were controversial in his time and that would continue to split opinions in the post-war structuralist movement Saussure's relationship with 19th-century theories of language was somewhat ambivalent These included social Darwinism and Völkerpsychologie or Volksgeist thinking which were regarded by many intellectuals as nationalist and racist pseudoscience