Structuralism: Levi Strauss

Question 1

Claude Levi-Strauss

Answer 1

‘the Structural Study of Myth’, 1969

Question 2

Kinship

Answer 2

A system of social organization based on real or assumed family ties. It is a universal phenomenon that takes highly variable cultural forms
(from britannica)

Levi-Strauss sought to explain how arbitrary social categories had originated

He originated the alliance theory, a structuralist method of studying kinship relations

Question 3

Binary pairs / oppositions

Answer 3

Levi-Strauss found that myth consists of binary oppositions

He believed that the human mind thinks fundamentally in them

Question 4

Metaphor

Answer 4

making a figurative analogy between two seemingly unlike things

contains a vehicle and a tenor
tenor-object whose assigned the attributes of the vehicle
vehicle- object whose attributes are borrowed

ex. all the world’s a stage
tenor- world
vehicle- stage

Question 5

Metonymy

Answer 5

a part stands in for the whole

ex) crown = royalty

Question 6

Binary opposites

Answer 6

a pair of related terms or concepts that are opposite in meaning

in Structuralism, a binary opposition is seen as a fundamental organizer of human philosophy, culture, and language

Question 7

Reversible time

Answer 7

langue belongs to reversible time (parole to non-reversible time)

langue, since it is just the structure itself, can exist in the past, present, or future (parole can only exist in linear time, which is unidirectional)

Question 8

Mythemes

Answer 8

“In structuralist anthropology and literary criticism: each of a set of fundamental generic units of narrative structure (typically involving a relationship between a character, an event, and a theme) from which myths are thought to be constructed.”

Question 9

Chthonic and autochthonic creation

Answer 9

Chthonic = having an origin in something external

Autochthonic = self-generated

Question 10

Levi Strauss- “Structures of Kinship”

Answer 10

*attempts to determine the extent to which behavior is shaped by culture or nature
*uses human infants and gorillas as examples
*also explores marital bonds
*idea that marriage is not forbidden but incestuous relationships with direct relatives is
Ex. Can people in certain cultures marry direct relatives? The answer is no.
*these are the negatives
*mentions the need to compare negative situations with the original thing/ concept to show what something is

Question 11

Why do we use binary opposites to understand cultures?

Answer 11

*cultures have more in common than we think
*similarities more important than differences
*reveal underlying needs
*ex. two toy factories in two diff. countries
Japan- toy car, yen paid to employees, box
America- toy airplane, dollar, plastic
*needs revealed- businesses need to earn a profit, toys need to look attractive

Question 12

Myth

Answer 12

“myth is language: to be known, myth has to be told; it is a part of human speech” (Myth 430)

Can be broken down into constituent units called “mythemes”