Claude Levi-Strauss – The Structural Study of Myth – summary, review and analysis - part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - part 4
One of the most influential works in anthropology and structural analysis is "The Structural Study of Myth" published by Claude Levi-Strauss in the 1955. Levi-Strauss' "The Structural Study of Myth" is a programmatic article that discusses the manner in which anthropology should approach the study of myths. Levi-Strauss uses some examples in "The Structural Study of Myth" to illustrate his structural model of myth analysis, but his article is first and foremost a guide to analyzing mythologies.
One of the most influential works in anthropology and structural analysis is "The Structural Study of Myth" published by Claude Levi-Strauss in the 1955. Levi-Strauss' "The Structural Study of Myth" is a programmatic article that discusses the manner in which anthropology should approach the study of myths. Levi-Strauss uses some examples in "The Structural Study of Myth" to illustrate his structural model of myth analysis, but his article is first and foremost a guide to analyzing mythologies.
At the
opening of "The Structural Study of Myth" Levi-Strauss discusses an alleged
paradox in myths: on the one hand myths seem arbitrary in that that they do not
abide by any logic and anything can happen in a myth. On the other hand,
Levi-Strauss notes that many different cultures present similar myths, a fact
which does not sit well with the seemingly arbitrary nature of myths.
According
to Levi-Strauss, it is this contradiction that points the way in the direction
of the warranted methodology for the study of myth. While content varies in
myth, both across cultures and across times, structure remains the same and
stays the same in different cultures and times. According to Levi-Strauss, the
"deep structure" of the myth should be the object of interest for
anthropologists and the study of myth. What Levi-Strauss is concerned with is
not the content of even the structure of a single myth, but rather the
underlying structure which exists in groups of myths and even all myths.
The
basic premise of Levi-Strauss' "The Structural Study of Myth" is that
myth is like language, or rather is language. Myth is not only conveyed by
language, it also functions like language in the manner described by de-
Saussure in The Nature of the Linguistic Sign and his differentiation between
"langue" and "parole". According to Levi-Strauss a myth
also has its langue which is the synchronous structure which enables the specific
parole of a certain myth. While details may vary from myth to myth, the
structure remains the same.
Claude Levi-Strauss – The Structural Study of Myth – summary, review and analysis - part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - part 4
Claude Levi-Strauss – The Structural Study of Myth – summary, review and analysis - part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - part 4
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