1、,Clause Lvi-Strauss,By Zhu Wenzhao,Contents of this presentation：,Introduction of Strauss Structuralismwhat is structure what is structuralismStrausss four procedures to structuralism Anthropological theories Mythwhat is mythStrausss study of myth,Introduction of Strauss,Strauss (28 November 1908 30
2、 October 2009) was born to French parents who were living in Brussels at the time, where his father was working as a painter. He studied law and philosophy, but found neither interesting. Then he took up anthropology.He was a French anthropologist and ethnologist, and has been called, along with Jam
3、es George Frazer, the “father of modern anthropology”,Major works,野性的思维 La Pense sauvage （1962） 忧郁的热带 Tristes tropiques（1955） 神话学 I-IV Mythologiques I-IV 结构人类学 Anthropologie structurale （1958） 种族与历史 Race et histoire（1952）结构人类学之二 Anthropologie structurale deux （1973） 亲属关系的基本结构 Les Structures lmentair
4、es de la parent （1949）,What is Structure?,Something made up of a number of parts that are held or put together in a particular way. The way in which parts are arranged or put together to form a whole; makeup. The interrelation or arrangement of parts in a complex entityIn other words, structure is r
5、ules and principles operative in the world, or we can say , the world is composed of many different elements, each of which has its own function, are closely bound up with each other in sort of a pattern or structure.,What is structuralism?,Structuralism is an intellectual movement which began in Fr
6、ance in the 1950s and is first seen in the work of the anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss. Its essence is the belief that things cannot be understood in isolation-they have to be seen in the context of the larger structures they are part of (hence the term “structuralism”). It emphasizes wholeness a
7、nd synchronic,Strausss four procedures to Structuralism,Strauss specified four procedures basic to structuralism. Structural analysis examines unconscious infrastructures of cultural phenomena It regards the elements of infrastructures as “relational”, not as independent entities. It attends single-
8、mindedly to system It propounds general laws accounting for the underlying organizing patterns of phenomena,Anthropological theories,Strauss sought to apply the structural linguistics of Saussure to anthropology. At the time, the family was traditionally considered the fundamental object of analysis
9、, but was seen primarily as a self-contained unit consisting of a husband, a wife, and their children. Nephews, cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents all were treated as secondary. He argued that families acquire determinate identities only through relations with one another.,Thus he inverted the
10、 classical view of anthropology, putting the secondary family members first and insisting on analyzing the relations between units instead of the units themselves.,Kinship: Strauss thought that kinship had four basic elements: brother, sister, father and son from which other relatives were derived.
11、In his own analysis of the formation of the identities that arise through marriages between tribes. Strauss noted that the relation between the uncle and the nephew was to the relation between brother and sister, as the relation between father and son is to that between husband and wife, that is, A
12、is to B as C is to D. Therefore if we know A, B, and C, we can predict D, just as if we know A and D, we can predict B and C. The goal of Strausss structural anthropology was to simplify the masses of empirical data into generalized, comprehensible relations between units, which allow for predictive
13、 laws to be identified, such as A is to B as C is to D.,A traditional story rooted in primitive folk beliefs of cultures Uses the supernatural to interpret natural events Explains the cultures view of the universe and the nature of humanity,What is a myth?,Strausss study of myth,Mythemes(神话素）: Strau
14、ss believed that myth ,like the rest of the language, is made up of constituent units. But what consists of language is different from that of the myth they belong to a higher and more complex order. For this reason, we shall call them mytheme What Strauss believed he had discovered when he examined
15、 the relations between mythemes was that a myth consists of juxtaposed binary oppositions(二元对立). For example, Oedipus consists of the overrating of blood relations and the underrating of blood relations.,Strauss sees a basic paradox in the study of myth. On one hand, mythical stories are fantastic and unpredictable: the content of myth seems completely arbitrary. On the other hand, the myths of different cultures are surprisingly similar. He says that universal laws must govern mythical thought and resolve this seeming paradox, producing similar myths in different cultures.,Thank you!,
