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39
Lévi-Strauss,
Elementary Structures
, p. xxiii.
Lévi-Strauss,
Elementary Structures
, p. xxiii.
40
Ibid., p. 12. Or, as he later put it: “The incest prohibition is thus the basis of human society; in a sense it
is
the society,” in “The Scope of Anthropology,”
Structural Anthropology
, vol. 2, p. 19.
Ibid., p. 12. Or, as he later put it: “The incest prohibition is thus the basis of human society; in a sense it
is
the society,” in “The Scope of Anthropology,”
Structural Anthropology
, vol. 2, p. 19.
41
Mauss,
The Gift
, pp. 77-78.
Mauss,
The Gift
, pp. 77-78.
42
Lévi-Strauss,
Elementary Structures
, p. 454.
Lévi-Strauss,
Elementary Structures
, p. 454.
43
Ibid., p. 51.
Ibid., p. 51.
44
Subsequently rephrased by Lacan as, “It’s not the women, but the phalluses that are exchanged,” in Dosse,
History of Structuralism
, vol. 1, p. 118.
Subsequently rephrased by Lacan as, “It’s not the women, but the phalluses that are exchanged,” in Dosse,
History of Structuralism
, vol. 1, p. 118.
45
Lévi-Strauss in Eribon,
Conversations
, p. 105. Cf. a clear statement to the contrary in Lévi-Strauss’s early piece for the linguistic journal
Word
(“L’Analyse structurale”): “In human society, it is the men who exchange women, and not vice versa,” in Lévi-Strauss,
Structural Anthropology
, vol. 1, p. 47.
Lévi-Strauss in Eribon,
Conversations
, p. 105. Cf. a clear statement to the contrary in Lévi-Strauss’s early piece for the linguistic journal
Word
(“L’Analyse structurale”): “In human society, it is the men who exchange women, and not vice versa,” in Lévi-Strauss,
Structural Anthropology
, vol. 1, p. 47.
46
Lévi-Strauss,
Elementary Structures
, p. 124.
Lévi-Strauss,
Elementary Structures
, p. 124.
47
Ibid., p. 443.
Ibid., p. 443.
48
Ibid., p. 497.
Ibid., p. 497.
49
Simone de Beauvoir, “L’être et la parenté,” cited in
Le Magazine littéraire
, hors-série no. 5, 4e trimestre, 2003, p. 60.
Simone de Beauvoir, “L’être et la parenté,” cited in
Le Magazine littéraire
, hors-série no. 5, 4e trimestre, 2003, p. 60.
50
Ibid., p. 63. The
la
refers to
oeuvre
.
Ibid., p. 63. The
la
refers to
oeuvre
.
51
Georges Bataille,
Eroticism
, Mary Dalwood, trans. (London: Penguin, 2001), pp. 200-201.
Georges Bataille,
Eroticism
, Mary Dalwood, trans. (London: Penguin, 2001), pp. 200-201.
52
According to American anthropologist Robert F. Murphy, “
Les Structures
was issued in a printing so limited that it was soon exhausted. Those in libraries either fell apart (the work was miserably manufactured) or were stolen, and the few remaining copies were treasured by their owners the way bootlegged copies of Henry Miller used to be,” in “Connaissez-vous Lévi-Strauss?”
Saturday Review
, May 17, 1969, pp. 52-53, reprinted in
The Anthropologist as Hero
, ed. E. Nelson Hayes and Tanya Hayes (Cambridge, Mass., and London: MIT Press, 1970), p. 165.
According to American anthropologist Robert F. Murphy, “
Les Structures
was issued in a printing so limited that it was soon exhausted. Those in libraries either fell apart (the work was miserably manufactured) or were stolen, and the few remaining copies were treasured by their owners the way bootlegged copies of Henry Miller used to be,” in “Connaissez-vous Lévi-Strauss?”
Saturday Review
, May 17, 1969, pp. 52-53, reprinted in
The Anthropologist as Hero
, ed. E. Nelson Hayes and Tanya Hayes (Cambridge, Mass., and London: MIT Press, 1970), p. 165.
53
Dosse,
History of Structuralism
, vol. 1, pp. 18-19.
Dosse,
History of Structuralism
, vol. 1, pp. 18-19.
54
Non-French-speaking anthropologists did, however, have an English summary of
Elementary Structures
, written by the Dutch anthropologist Josselin de Jong, who, independently of Lévi-Strauss, had been toying with the same ideas in relation to ethnographic data in Indonesia.
Non-French-speaking anthropologists did, however, have an English summary of
Elementary Structures
, written by the Dutch anthropologist Josselin de Jong, who, independently of Lévi-Strauss, had been toying with the same ideas in relation to ethnographic data in Indonesia.
55
In Stanley J. Tambiah,
Edmund Leach: An Anthropological Life
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), pp. 114-15.
In Stanley J. Tambiah,
Edmund Leach: An Anthropological Life
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), pp. 114-15.
56
From Cambridge University Anthropological Ancestors interviews at
http://www.dspace.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/25
. The specifics of the argument are highly complex. See Leach’s original article, “The Structural Implications of Matrilineal Cross-Cousin Marriage,”
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
, vol. 81, 1951, pp. 166-67; and Tambiah’s summary in
Edmund Leach
, p. 117.
From Cambridge University Anthropological Ancestors interviews at
http://www.dspace.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/25
. The specifics of the argument are highly complex. See Leach’s original article, “The Structural Implications of Matrilineal Cross-Cousin Marriage,”
Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
, vol. 81, 1951, pp. 166-67; and Tambiah’s summary in
Edmund Leach
, p. 117.
57
Edmond Leach, “Claude Lévi-Strauss—Anthropologist and Philosopher,”
New Left Review
, vol. I/34, November-December 1965, p. 20.
Edmond Leach, “Claude Lévi-Strauss—Anthropologist and Philosopher,”
New Left Review
, vol. I/34, November-December 1965, p. 20.
58
Lévi-Strauss,
Elementary Structures
, p. 49, footnote 5. Lévi-Strauss was responding to a similar criticism made by David Maybury-Lewis.
Lévi-Strauss,
Elementary Structures
, p. 49, footnote 5. Lévi-Strauss was responding to a similar criticism made by David Maybury-Lewis.
59
See Arthur P. Wolf and William H. Durham, eds.,
Inbreeding, Incest, and the Incest Taboo
(Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2004), p. 5.
See Arthur P. Wolf and William H. Durham, eds.,
Inbreeding, Incest, and the Incest Taboo
(Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2004), p. 5.
60
See Maurice Godelier’s
Métamorphoses de la parenté
(Paris: Fayard, 2004); and Jack Goody’s review, “The Labyrinth of Kinship,”
New Left Review
, vol. I/36, November- December 2005.
See Maurice Godelier’s
Métamorphoses de la parenté
(Paris: Fayard, 2004); and Jack Goody’s review, “The Labyrinth of Kinship,”
New Left Review
, vol. I/36, November- December 2005.
61
Claude Lévi-Strauss, “Entretien par Raymond Bellour,” in Lévi-Strauss,
Oeuvres
, p. 1659.
Claude Lévi-Strauss, “Entretien par Raymond Bellour,” in Lévi-Strauss,
Oeuvres
, p. 1659.
62
Lévi-Strauss,
Elementary Structures
, p. xxvii.
Lévi-Strauss,
Elementary Structures
, p. xxvii.
63
See, for instance, Claude Lévi-Strauss,
The Raw and the Cooked
, p. 10: “In
Les Structures
, behind what seemed the superficial contingency and incoherent diversity of the laws governing marriage, I discerned a small number of simple principles, thanks to which a very complex mass of customs and practices . . . could be reduced to a meaningful system.”
See, for instance, Claude Lévi-Strauss,
The Raw and the Cooked
, p. 10: “In
Les Structures
, behind what seemed the superficial contingency and incoherent diversity of the laws governing marriage, I discerned a small number of simple principles, thanks to which a very complex mass of customs and practices . . . could be reduced to a meaningful system.”
1
Claude Lévi-Strauss, “Witch-doctors and psychoanalysis,”
UNESCO Courier
, no. 5, 2008, pp. 31-32.
Claude Lévi-Strauss, “Witch-doctors and psychoanalysis,”
UNESCO Courier
, no. 5, 2008, pp. 31-32.
2
“Claude Lévi-Strauss: A Confrontation,”
New Left Review
, vol. I/62, July-August 1970, originally published as “Réponse à quelques questions,”
Esprit
, no. 322, November 1963.
“Claude Lévi-Strauss: A Confrontation,”
New Left Review
, vol. I/62, July-August 1970, originally published as “Réponse à quelques questions,”
Esprit
, no. 322, November 1963.
3
Claude Lévi-Strauss, “The Sorcerer and His Magic,” in
Structural Anthropology
, vol. 1, pp. 167-85.
Claude Lévi-Strauss, “The Sorcerer and His Magic,” in
Structural Anthropology
, vol. 1, pp. 167-85.
4
Claude Lévi-Strauss, “The Effectiveness of Symbols,” in ibid., pp. 186-205.
Claude Lévi-Strauss, “The Effectiveness of Symbols,” in ibid., pp. 186-205.
5
Lévi-Strauss, “Witch-doctors and Psychoanalysis,” pp. 31-32.
Lévi-Strauss, “Witch-doctors and Psychoanalysis,” pp. 31-32.
6
Lévi-Strauss,
Structural Anthropology
, vol. 1, p. 204.
Lévi-Strauss,
Structural Anthropology
, vol. 1, p. 204.
7
Claude Lévi-Strauss,
An Introduction to the Work of Marcel Maus,
Felicty Baker, trans. (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1987), p. 45.
Claude Lévi-Strauss,
An Introduction to the Work of Marcel Maus,
Felicty Baker, trans. (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1987), p. 45.
8
Claude Lefort, “L’Échange et la lutte des hommes,”
Les Formes de l’histoire
(Paris: Gallimard, 1978), p. 17; originally published in
Les Temps modernes
, no. 64, February 1951, pp.1400-17.
Claude Lefort, “L’Échange et la lutte des hommes,”
Les Formes de l’histoire
(Paris: Gallimard, 1978), p. 17; originally published in
Les Temps modernes
, no. 64, February 1951, pp.1400-17.
9
Lévi-Strauss,
The Scope of Anthropology
, p. 50.
Lévi-Strauss,
The Scope of Anthropology
, p. 50.
10
Lévi-Strauss in Eribon,
Conversations
, p. 49.
Lévi-Strauss in Eribon,
Conversations
, p. 49.
11
Jonathan Judaken,
Jean-Paul Sartre and the Jewish Question
(Lincoln, Neb.; Chesham: University of Nebraska Press, 2006), p. 69.
Jonathan Judaken,
Jean-Paul Sartre and the Jewish Question
(Lincoln, Neb.; Chesham: University of Nebraska Press, 2006), p. 69.
12
Lévi-Strauss in Eribon,
Conversations
, p. 50.
Lévi-Strauss in Eribon,
Conversations
, p. 50.
13
Lévi-Strauss,
Tristes Tropiques
, Picador, p. 165.
Lévi-Strauss,
Tristes Tropiques
, Picador, p. 165.
14
Ibid., p. 166.
Ibid., p. 166.
15
Ibid., pp. 175, 176.
Ibid., pp. 175, 176.
16
Claude Lévi-Strauss, “Kinship Systems of the Chittagong Hill Tribes (Pakistan),”
Southwestern Journal of Anthropology
, vol. 8, no. 1, Spring 1952, pp. 40-51; “Miscellaneous Notes on the Kuki of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Pakistan,”
Man
, vol. 51, December 1951, pp. 167-69.
Claude Lévi-Strauss, “Kinship Systems of the Chittagong Hill Tribes (Pakistan),”
Southwestern Journal of Anthropology
, vol. 8, no. 1, Spring 1952, pp. 40-51; “Miscellaneous Notes on the Kuki of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Pakistan,”
Man
, vol. 51, December 1951, pp. 167-69.
17
Lévi-Strauss,
Oeuvres
, p. 1689.
Lévi-Strauss,
Oeuvres
, p. 1689.
18
Lévi-Strauss,
Tristes Tropiques
, Picador, p. 169.
Lévi-Strauss,
Tristes Tropiques
, Picador, p. 169.
19
Ibid., pp. 161-62.
Ibid., pp. 161-62.
20
Ibid., p. 179.
Ibid., p. 179.
21
Lévi-Strauss in Eribon,
Conversations
, p. 50.
Lévi-Strauss in Eribon,
Conversations
, p. 50.
22
Ibid., p. 102.
Ibid., p. 102.
23
Claude Lévi-Strauss,
Anthropology and Myth: Lectures 1951-1982
, Roy Willis, trans. (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1984), p. 2.
Claude Lévi-Strauss,
Anthropology and Myth: Lectures 1951-1982
, Roy Willis, trans. (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1984), p. 2.
24
For an account of Descola’s ordeal, see Philippe Descola,
The Spears of Twilight: Life and Death in the Amazon Jungle
, Janet Lloyd, trans. (London: HarperCollins, 1996), pp. 22-23.
For an account of Descola’s ordeal, see Philippe Descola,
The Spears of Twilight: Life and Death in the Amazon Jungle
, Janet Lloyd, trans. (London: HarperCollins, 1996), pp. 22-23.
25
Philippe Descola, interview with the author, February 2007.
Philippe Descola, interview with the author, February 2007.
26
Lévi-Strauss,
Anthropology and Myth
, p. 199.
Lévi-Strauss,
Anthropology and Myth
, p. 199.
27
Lévi-Strauss,
Structural Anthropology
, vol. 1, p. 71. The notion that the brain might be made up of separate, semi-independent functions has in fact gained adherents since Lévi-Strauss ridiculed the idea in the 1950s; see Jerry Fodor’s
The Modularity of Mind: An Essay on Faculty Psychology
(Cambridge, Mass.; London: MIT Press, 1983).
Lévi-Strauss,
Structural Anthropology
, vol. 1, p. 71. The notion that the brain might be made up of separate, semi-independent functions has in fact gained adherents since Lévi-Strauss ridiculed the idea in the 1950s; see Jerry Fodor’s
The Modularity of Mind: An Essay on Faculty Psychology
(Cambridge, Mass.; London: MIT Press, 1983).
28
Lévi-Strauss,
Structural Anthropology
, vol. 1, p. 70.
Lévi-Strauss,
Structural Anthropology
, vol. 1, p. 70.
29
For tools, for instance, he proposed a scheme of analysis that involved three layers of differences: the way the tool was used (to strike, rub or cut); its leading edge (sharp, blunt or serrated); and how it was manipulated (with perpendicular, oblique or circular movements). Lévi-Strauss, in
An Appraisal of Anthropology Today
, Sol Tax et al., eds. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1953), p. 293.
For tools, for instance, he proposed a scheme of analysis that involved three layers of differences: the way the tool was used (to strike, rub or cut); its leading edge (sharp, blunt or serrated); and how it was manipulated (with perpendicular, oblique or circular movements). Lévi-Strauss, in
An Appraisal of Anthropology Today
, Sol Tax et al., eds. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1953), p. 293.
30
Ibid., p. 294.
Ibid., p. 294.
31
Ibid., p. 321.
Ibid., p. 321.
32
Ibid., pp. 349-52.
Ibid., pp. 349-52.
33
Elisabeth Roudinesco,
Jacques Lacan & Co: A History of Psychoanalysis in France, 1925-1985
, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990), p. 560.
Elisabeth Roudinesco,
Jacques Lacan & Co: A History of Psychoanalysis in France, 1925-1985
, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990), p. 560.
34
Bertholet,
Claude Lévi-Strauss
, p. 209.
Bertholet,
Claude Lévi-Strauss
, p. 209.
35
Claude Lévi-Strauss,
Race et histoire
(Paris: Gonthier, 1968), pp. 46-50.
Claude Lévi-Strauss,
Race et histoire
(Paris: Gonthier, 1968), pp. 46-50.
36
At the Collège, the sacred had been conceived not so much in religious terms, but as anything that inspired a heightened sensitivity, whether it was awe, fear or fascination. In keeping with Bataille’s own intellectual obsessions, eroticism and death were thematic. The group was dedicated to resacralizing society, fusing it with the human energies that modernity had bleached out. Caillois became obsessed with the image of the female praying mantis, twisting her head back to devour her mate, an image he likened to the femme fatale in fiction—a woman luring her partner to his death.
At the Collège, the sacred had been conceived not so much in religious terms, but as anything that inspired a heightened sensitivity, whether it was awe, fear or fascination. In keeping with Bataille’s own intellectual obsessions, eroticism and death were thematic. The group was dedicated to resacralizing society, fusing it with the human energies that modernity had bleached out. Caillois became obsessed with the image of the female praying mantis, twisting her head back to devour her mate, an image he likened to the femme fatale in fiction—a woman luring her partner to his death.
37
Lévi-Strauss in Eribon,
Conversations
, p. 85.
Lévi-Strauss in Eribon,
Conversations
, p. 85.
38
Roger Caillois, “Illusion à rebours,”
La Nouvelle revue française
, no. 24, December 1954, pp. 1010-24; and no. 25, January 1955, pp. 58-70.
Roger Caillois, “Illusion à rebours,”
La Nouvelle revue française
, no. 24, December 1954, pp. 1010-24; and no. 25, January 1955, pp. 58-70.
39
In Claudine Frank, ed.,
The Edge of Surrealism: A Roger Caillois Reader
(Durham, N.C., and London: Duke, 2003), p. 48.
In Claudine Frank, ed.,
The Edge of Surrealism: A Roger Caillois Reader
(Durham, N.C., and London: Duke, 2003), p. 48.
40
Caillois, “Illusion à rebours,” pp. 67-70.
Caillois, “Illusion à rebours,” pp. 67-70.
41
Claude Lévi-Strauss, “Diogène couché,”
Les Temps modernes
, no. 110, 1955, p. 1214.
Claude Lévi-Strauss, “Diogène couché,”
Les Temps modernes
, no. 110, 1955, p. 1214.
42
Alfred Métraux in Bertholet,
Claude Lévi-Strauss
, p. 219.
Alfred Métraux in Bertholet,
Claude Lévi-Strauss
, p. 219.
43
Lévi-Strauss in Eribon,
Conversations
, p. 85.
Lévi-Strauss in Eribon,
Conversations
, p. 85.
44
Lévi-Strauss, “Diogène couché,” pp. 1218-19.
Lévi-Strauss, “Diogène couché,” pp. 1218-19.
1
Pierre Mac Orlan,
La Vénus Internationale
(Paris: La Nouvelle Revue Française, 1923), pp. 236-37.
Pierre Mac Orlan,
La Vénus Internationale
(Paris: La Nouvelle Revue Française, 1923), pp. 236-37.
2
Jan Borm,
Jean Malaurie: un homme singulier
(Paris: Éditions du Chêne, 2005), pp. 53, 56.
Jan Borm,
Jean Malaurie: un homme singulier
(Paris: Éditions du Chêne, 2005), pp. 53, 56.
3
Vincent Debaene, “Atelier de théorie littéraire: La collection Terre humaine: dans et hors de la literature,”
Fabula
, March 1, 2007:
http://www.fabula.org/atelier.php?La_collection_Terre_humaine%3A_dans_et_hors_de_la_litt%26eacute%3Brature
.
Vincent Debaene, “Atelier de théorie littéraire: La collection Terre humaine: dans et hors de la literature,”
Fabula
, March 1, 2007:
http://www.fabula.org/atelier.php?La_collection_Terre_humaine%3A_dans_et_hors_de_la_litt%26eacute%3Brature
.
4
Lévi-Strauss,
Le Magazine littéraire
, no. 223, October 1985, p. 24.
Lévi-Strauss,
Le Magazine littéraire
, no. 223, October 1985, p. 24.
5
Dosse,
History of Structuralism
, vol. 1, p. 130.
Dosse,
History of Structuralism
, vol. 1, p. 130.
6
“Auto-portrait de Claude Lévi-Strauss,” in
Claude Lévi-Strauss
, éditions inculte, 2006, p. 183; originally published in a special edition of the journal
L’Arc
dedicated to the work of Lévi-Strauss, see
L’Arc
, no. 26, 1965.
“Auto-portrait de Claude Lévi-Strauss,” in
Claude Lévi-Strauss
, éditions inculte, 2006, p. 183; originally published in a special edition of the journal
L’Arc
dedicated to the work of Lévi-Strauss, see
L’Arc
, no. 26, 1965.
7
Lévi-Strauss,
Tristes Tropiques
, Picador, p. 543.
Lévi-Strauss,
Tristes Tropiques
, Picador, p. 543.
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