Claude Lévi-Strauss

Claude Lévi-Strauss was a French anthropologist and ethnologist who is regarded as the founder of the structural anthropology. He was one of the most influential of the social scientists of the twentieth century.

Early Life and Education

Lévi-Strauss was born in 1908 in Brussels and grew up in Paris. He studied law and philosophy at the Sorbonne.

He taught at the University of São Paulo and conducted the fieldwork in Brazil. He studied the indigenous peoples of the Amazon.

He was the visiting professor at the New School for Social Research in New York. He was influenced by the structural linguistics of Roman Jakobson.

The Structural Anthropology

Lévi-Strauss published the book The Elementary Structures of Kinship in 1949. The work studies the systems of the kinship and the marriage.

He applied the methods of the structural linguistics to the study of the culture. The method seeks the underlying structures of the human mind.

He published the book Tristes Tropiques in 1955. The book is the memoir and the reflection on the work of the anthropologist.

He published the four volumes of the Mythologiques between 1964 and 1971. The work studies the myths of the Americas and their common structures.

The Theory and the Ideas

Lévi-Strauss argued that the human mind operates through the binary oppositions. The structures of the myth reflect the structures of the mind.

He developed the concept of the bricolage. The concept describes the way in which the myths are constructed from the available cultural elements.

He criticised the notion of the primitive and the civilised. He argued for the equality of the human minds across the cultures.

He was the leading figure of the structuralism in the social sciences. The movement influenced the philosophy and the literary theory.

The Legacy

Lévi-Strauss was elected to the Académie française in 1973. He received the honours from the institutions throughout the world.

He died in 2009 in Paris at the age of one hundred. He was one of the most influential of the anthropologists of the century.

His work transformed the study of the anthropology and the mythology. The structural method has been applied to the many fields.

He is regarded as the founder of the structural anthropology. His work continues to be studied and debated.

The Structural Anthropology

Lévi-Strauss published The Elementary Structures of Kinship in 1949. The work studies the systems of the kinship.

He applied the methods of the structural linguistics to the culture. The method seeks the underlying structures.

He was the leading figure of the structuralism in the social sciences.

The Tristes Tropiques

Lévi-Strauss published Tristes Tropiques in 1955. The book is the memoir and the reflection on the work.

The book describes the fieldwork in Brazil. It is regarded as one of the greatest of the anthropological works.

The book established his reputation with the general public.

The Mythology

Lévi-Strauss published the four volumes of the Mythologiques. The work studies the myths of the Americas.

He argued that the myths share the common structures. The structures reflect the structures of the human mind.

He developed the concept of the bricolage.

The Theory

Lévi-Strauss argued that the mind operates through the binary oppositions. The structures of the myth reflect the mind.

He criticised the notion of the primitive and the civilised. He argued for the equality of the human minds.

He was influenced by the linguistics of Roman Jakobson.

The Career

Lévi-Strauss taught at the University of São Paulo and the Collège de France. He conducted the fieldwork in Brazil.

He was elected to the Académie française in 1973. He received the honours from the institutions throughout the world.

He was one of the most influential of the anthropologists.

The Legacy

Lévi-Strauss died in 2009 in Paris at the age of one hundred. He was one of the most influential of the social scientists.

His work transformed the study of the anthropology and the mythology. The structural method has been applied to the many fields.

He is regarded as the founder of the structural anthropology.

The Personal Life

Lévi-Strauss married Dina Dreyfus in 1932 and later Monique Roman. He had two sons.

He was a cultivated man with the interest in the music and the art. He was also a gifted writer.

He died in 2009 in Paris at the age of one hundred.

The Influence

Lévi-Strauss was one of the most influential of the social scientists. The structural method has been applied to the many fields.

He transformed the study of the anthropology and the mythology. The work continues to be studied and debated.

He was the leading figure of the structuralist movement.

See also

• Structuralism
• Anthropology
• Mythology
• Kinship