Social and Literary Structures: How Are They Interrelated?

This paper critically reviews the models of the relationship between literary structures such as narrative and discourse, on the one hand, and social structures such as social networks, on the other. It first critically analyzes the earlier one-sided, non-reciprocal models and continues with a survey of the more recent reciprocal models which are suggested by scholars from a wide range of disciplines. Finally, it outlines how these new reciprocal models can shed more light on the interaction between literary and social structures. It is argued that literary and social structures conjointly constitute, through an uninterrupted ceaseless synergy, what we commonly came to cal! social organization. This paper presents an attempt to change our concept of social organization through reshaping our perception of language use.