Myths and Myth Maker

Among the most renowned of contemporary studies of myth are the works of Claude Levi-Strauss. A prolific author, vastly erudite and industrious, he is one of the most discussed thinkers of his time in literary, linguistic, anthropological, philosophic, and even some political circles (cf. Lapointe and Lapointe 1977, Holbeck 1978). The centerpiece of his considerable oeuvre is the four-volume series under the general title Mythologiques, Introduction to a Science of Mythology (English translations, 1969, 1973, 1978, 1981). The greater part ofthe discussion of these writings has been critical or expository, not much of it has been propulsive (cf. Carroll 1978^475-477). One reason for this circumstance in respect to folklore studies is that the work of Levi-Strauss does not deal with folklore as communication in the way this research field has (in recent decades) come to be widely understood. His myth analyses are predominantly of texts from American Indian tribes, with only occasional examination of narratives and practices from peoples of contemporary civilization. Levi-Strauss has explained (i976a[i96o]:26-28), elliptically, that modern cultures and societies are too close to a contemporary observer to be studied with suitable objectivity, a position not now generally accepted by most social-cultural anthropologists. But even in his approach to tribal myths, Levi-Strauss's procedure appears as a sharp reverse march from present trends in anthropology and folklore studies, back to concentration on text, away from observed social context, back to mining of nuggets of information in a manner reminiscent of Frazer. At the same time, the purpose of the analyses aims far beyond the usual goals of folklore study, arching in a grand jete towards revaluation of the elementary structure of mind, to discover the primary processes of thought. Those who try to explain Levi-Strauss's works usually warn that it is virtually impossible to translate the delicate texture of the prose or to do justice, in brief space, to the fine-spun quality of the thought. The present discussion is based on the English translations of the relevant works. Nonetheless, with due regard for the properly posted perils of capsule condensation, we may ask what potential there is in this method for developing understanding of issues that are of current interest to cultural-social anthropol? ogists and folklorists

Humanities · Levi strauss · Mythology · Sociology · Classics · Historical and Literary Analyses · History · Italian Literature and Culture · Media, Communication, and Education · Philosophy

• Suan the Guesser

  Robert D Retherford, Robert Retherford•Asian Folklore Studies•1996

  Incluir item

• Encountering being, identity, and otherness

  Open Access•Susan J Rasmussen, Susan Rasmussen•Culture & Psychology•2011

  Incluir item

• Claude Lévi-Strauss Meets Alexander Goldenweiser

  Open Access•Warren Shapiro•American Anthropologist•1991

  Incluir item

• Structural Analysis of Oral Tradition

  Ruth Finnegan, Pierre Maranda et al.•Man•1972

  Incluir item

• Structuralism and dialectics

  Eleanor B Leacock, Eleanor Leacock•Reviews in Anthropology•1978

  Incluir item

• The Structural Study of Myth

  Claude Lévi-Strau, Claude Lévi‐strau et al.•Journal of American Folklore•1955

  Incluir item

• Little Orphan Annie and Levi-Strauss

  Ellen Rhoads•Journal of American Folklore•1973

  Incluir item

• Levi-Strauss in the Nation-State

  M Herzfeld•Journal of American Folklore•1985

  Incluir item

• The Social Theory of Claude Levi-Strauss

  Stephen Nugent, Alan Jenkins•Man•1979

  Incluir item

• Asdiwal crumbles

  Open Access•L L Thomas, J Z Kronenfeld et al.•American Ethnologist•1976

  Incluir item

• Lévi-Strauss on the Oedipus Myth

  Open Access•Michael P Carroll•American Anthropologist•1978

  Incluir item