Claude Levi-Strauss: The Poet in the Laboratory (61 page)
Read Claude Levi-Strauss: The Poet in the Laboratory Online
Authors: Patrick Wilcken
Tags: #Biographies & Memoirs, #Professionals & Academics, #Social Scientists & Psychologists, #History, #Americas, #South America, #Brazil, #Politics & Social Sciences, #Anthropology, #Cultural
BOOK: Claude Levi-Strauss: The Poet in the Laboratory
5.94Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
20
Ibid., pp. 31-32.
Ibid., pp. 31-32.
21
Lévi-Strauss in Boutang and Chevallay,
Claude Lévi-Strauss in His Own Words
, 20:10.
Lévi-Strauss in Boutang and Chevallay,
Claude Lévi-Strauss in His Own Words
, 20:10.
22
D. Antonio Colbacchini,
I Bororos Orientali: “Orarimugudoge” del Matto Grosso (Brasile)
, Torino, 1925. Just as Lévi-Strauss was finishing the final draft of
Le Cru et le cuit
, another important Salesian source became available, the first volume of the
Enciclopédia Boróro
, forcing him to delay publication until he had had a chance to read it and incorporate it into his analyses.
D. Antonio Colbacchini,
I Bororos Orientali: “Orarimugudoge” del Matto Grosso (Brasile)
, Torino, 1925. Just as Lévi-Strauss was finishing the final draft of
Le Cru et le cuit
, another important Salesian source became available, the first volume of the
Enciclopédia Boróro
, forcing him to delay publication until he had had a chance to read it and incorporate it into his analyses.
23
Lévi-Strauss,
The Raw and the Cooked
, p. 37.
Lévi-Strauss,
The Raw and the Cooked
, p. 37.
24
Ibid., pp. 59, 64.
Ibid., pp. 59, 64.
25
Claude Lévi-Strauss,
From Honey to Ashes: Introduction to a Science of Mythology 2
, John and Doreen Weightman, trans. (London: Jonathan Cape, 1973), p. 469.
Claude Lévi-Strauss,
From Honey to Ashes: Introduction to a Science of Mythology 2
, John and Doreen Weightman, trans. (London: Jonathan Cape, 1973), p. 469.
26
Lévi-Strauss,
The Raw and the Cooked
, 1970, p. 335.
Lévi-Strauss,
The Raw and the Cooked
, 1970, p. 335.
27
Ibid., p. 340.
Ibid., p. 340.
28
Now collected in “Claude Lévi-Strauss: The View from Afar,”
UNESCO Courier
, no. 5, 2005,
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0016/001627/162711e.pdf
.
Now collected in “Claude Lévi-Strauss: The View from Afar,”
UNESCO Courier
, no. 5, 2005,
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0016/001627/162711e.pdf
.
29
See Boris Wiseman’s interesting discussion on this point, linking this idea with similar sentiments expressed by the symbolist poets Stéphane Mallarmé and Paul Valéry, in
Lévi-Strauss, Anthropology and Aesthetics
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), pp. 202-3.
See Boris Wiseman’s interesting discussion on this point, linking this idea with similar sentiments expressed by the symbolist poets Stéphane Mallarmé and Paul Valéry, in
Lévi-Strauss, Anthropology and Aesthetics
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), pp. 202-3.
30
Merquior,
From Prague to Paris
, p. 128.
Merquior,
From Prague to Paris
, p. 128.
31
Also important was the work of Christian Metz, who introduced a Lacanian semiotic approach to film studies.
Also important was the work of Christian Metz, who introduced a Lacanian semiotic approach to film studies.
32
Anne-Christine Taylor, interview with the author, February 2007.
Anne-Christine Taylor, interview with the author, February 2007.
33
Dosse,
History of Structuralism
, vol. 2, p. xiii.
Dosse,
History of Structuralism
, vol. 2, p. xiii.
34
Ibid., pp. xiii-xiv.
Ibid., pp. xiii-xiv.
35
Murphy, “Connaissez-vous Lévi-Strauss?” p. 165.
Murphy, “Connaissez-vous Lévi-Strauss?” p. 165.
36
Lévi-Strauss in Eribon,
Conversations
, p. 76.
Lévi-Strauss in Eribon,
Conversations
, p. 76.
37
Bertholet,
Claude Lévi-Strauss
, p. 291.
Bertholet,
Claude Lévi-Strauss
, p. 291.
38
Guy Sorman, “Lévi-Strauss, New Yorker,”
City Journal
, vol. 19, no. 4, November 6, 2009.
Guy Sorman, “Lévi-Strauss, New Yorker,”
City Journal
, vol. 19, no. 4, November 6, 2009.
39
Lévi-Strauss, “Entretien par Raymond Bellour,” in
Oeuvres
, p. 1662.
Lévi-Strauss, “Entretien par Raymond Bellour,” in
Oeuvres
, p. 1662.
40
De Gramont, “There Are No Superior Societies,” pp. 9-10. Lévi-Strauss would later question the quality of Foucault’s scholarship and would even go on to vote against Foucault’s entry into the Collège.
De Gramont, “There Are No Superior Societies,” pp. 9-10. Lévi-Strauss would later question the quality of Foucault’s scholarship and would even go on to vote against Foucault’s entry into the Collège.
41
This, according to a letter he sent to Catherine Backès-Clément on May 30, 1970; see Bertholet,
Claude Lévi-Strauss
, p. 316.
This, according to a letter he sent to Catherine Backès-Clément on May 30, 1970; see Bertholet,
Claude Lévi-Strauss
, p. 316.
42
Psychoanalyst Didier Anzieu expressed it well in relation to Lacan, who he felt was trapping students in an “unending dependence on an idol, a logic or a language, by holding out the promise of fundamental truths to be revealed but always at some further point, and only to those who continue to travel with him,” in a review of
Jacques Lacan
by Elisabeth Roudinesco (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1997), by Richard Webster, “Lacan Goes to the Opera”
New Statesman
(1996), vol. 126, November 7, 1997, p. 44(2).
Psychoanalyst Didier Anzieu expressed it well in relation to Lacan, who he felt was trapping students in an “unending dependence on an idol, a logic or a language, by holding out the promise of fundamental truths to be revealed but always at some further point, and only to those who continue to travel with him,” in a review of
Jacques Lacan
by Elisabeth Roudinesco (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1997), by Richard Webster, “Lacan Goes to the Opera”
New Statesman
(1996), vol. 126, November 7, 1997, p. 44(2).
43
Cited in Dosse,
History of Structuralism
, vol. 1, p. 271.
Cited in Dosse,
History of Structuralism
, vol. 1, p. 271.
44
De Gramont, “There Are No Superior Societies,” p. 18.
De Gramont, “There Are No Superior Societies,” p. 18.
45
François Furet, “Les Intellectuels français et le structuralisme,”
L’Atelier de l’histoire
, Flammarion, 1982, pp. 37-52; originally published in
Preuves
, no. 92, February 1967.
François Furet, “Les Intellectuels français et le structuralisme,”
L’Atelier de l’histoire
, Flammarion, 1982, pp. 37-52; originally published in
Preuves
, no. 92, February 1967.
46
Dosse,
History of Structuralism
, vol. 1, p. 325.
Dosse,
History of Structuralism
, vol. 1, p. 325.
47
Boris Wiseman and Judy Groves,
Introducing Lévi-Strauss and Structural Anthropology
(Cambridge: Icon Books, 2000), p. 132.
Boris Wiseman and Judy Groves,
Introducing Lévi-Strauss and Structural Anthropology
(Cambridge: Icon Books, 2000), p. 132.
48
Lévi-Strauss in Eribon,
Conversations
, p. 133.
Lévi-Strauss in Eribon,
Conversations
, p. 133.
49
Ibid., p. viii.
Ibid., p. viii.
50
See David Maybury-Lewis, “The Analysis of Dual Organizations: A Methodological Critique,”
Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde
, vol. 116, no. 1, 1960, pp. 17-44; Claude Lévi-Strauss, “On Manipulated Sociological Models,” in ibid., pp. 45-54. Both are available online at
http://www.kitlv-journals.nl/
.
See David Maybury-Lewis, “The Analysis of Dual Organizations: A Methodological Critique,”
Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde
, vol. 116, no. 1, 1960, pp. 17-44; Claude Lévi-Strauss, “On Manipulated Sociological Models,” in ibid., pp. 45-54. Both are available online at
http://www.kitlv-journals.nl/
.
51
David Maybury-Lewis, “Science or Bricolage?” in
The Anthropologist as Hero
, ed. Hayes and Hayes, pp. 162, 154-55.
David Maybury-Lewis, “Science or Bricolage?” in
The Anthropologist as Hero
, ed. Hayes and Hayes, pp. 162, 154-55.
52
This was in relation to a review of the following volume,
The Origin of Table Manners
, in the
New Yorker
, July 30, 1979, p. 85.
This was in relation to a review of the following volume,
The Origin of Table Manners
, in the
New Yorker
, July 30, 1979, p. 85.
53
Maybury-Lewis, “Science or Bricolage?,” pp. 161-62.
Maybury-Lewis, “Science or Bricolage?,” pp. 161-62.
54
Needham, interview with the author, February 2006.
Needham, interview with the author, February 2006.
55
Needham puts it more strongly: “Professor Lévi-Strauss formally declined to examine the translation before it went to press, and has likewise abstained from reading the proofs,”
The Elementary Structures
, 1969, p. xviii.
Needham puts it more strongly: “Professor Lévi-Strauss formally declined to examine the translation before it went to press, and has likewise abstained from reading the proofs,”
The Elementary Structures
, 1969, p. xviii.
56
Needham, interview with the author, February 2006. The last-minute preface was compounded by other perceived slights—Needham said that when he wrote to Lévi-Strauss to let him know that he had burned all their correspondence, Lévi-Strauss wrote back saying that was fine, since there was nothing of any value there anyway. Needham said that, in person, he found Lévi-Strauss cold and not very forthcoming. When Lévi-Strauss came to Oxford to receive an honorary degree, Needham said, he never thanked anybody; he simply arrived, collected the degree and left—a description that does not tally with other people’s (including my) experiences with Lévi-Strauss. He was reserved and could be taciturn, depending on the circumstances, but he always made a point of being courteous.
Needham, interview with the author, February 2006. The last-minute preface was compounded by other perceived slights—Needham said that when he wrote to Lévi-Strauss to let him know that he had burned all their correspondence, Lévi-Strauss wrote back saying that was fine, since there was nothing of any value there anyway. Needham said that, in person, he found Lévi-Strauss cold and not very forthcoming. When Lévi-Strauss came to Oxford to receive an honorary degree, Needham said, he never thanked anybody; he simply arrived, collected the degree and left—a description that does not tally with other people’s (including my) experiences with Lévi-Strauss. He was reserved and could be taciturn, depending on the circumstances, but he always made a point of being courteous.
57
Jeremy MacClancy, “Obituary: Rodney Needham, Oxford Social Anthropologist and Champion of Structuralism,”
Independent
, December 13, 2006. Part of the problem was Needham’s own extreme sensitivity and eccentricities, which produced many rifts in his working life. After a dispute with colleagues, he moved his library out of the anthropology department and never set foot there again, teaching instead out of All Souls and relaying messages into the department via the porter.
Jeremy MacClancy, “Obituary: Rodney Needham, Oxford Social Anthropologist and Champion of Structuralism,”
Independent
, December 13, 2006. Part of the problem was Needham’s own extreme sensitivity and eccentricities, which produced many rifts in his working life. After a dispute with colleagues, he moved his library out of the anthropology department and never set foot there again, teaching instead out of All Souls and relaying messages into the department via the porter.
58
Lévi-Strauss, interview with the author, February 2007.
Lévi-Strauss, interview with the author, February 2007.
59
Ibid.
Ibid.
60
Lévi-Strauss,
The Raw and the Cooked
, p. 13.
Lévi-Strauss,
The Raw and the Cooked
, p. 13.
61
Dosse,
History of Structuralism
, vol. 2, p. 15.
Dosse,
History of Structuralism
, vol. 2, p. 15.
62
Sperber,
On Anthropological Knowledge
, p. 69.
Sperber,
On Anthropological Knowledge
, p. 69.
63
Viveiros de Castro, “Entrevista: Lévi-Strauss nos 90,” p. 120.
Viveiros de Castro, “Entrevista: Lévi-Strauss nos 90,” p. 120.
64
Lévi-Strauss,
From Honey to Ashes
, p. 473.
Lévi-Strauss,
From Honey to Ashes
, p. 473.
65
Lévi-Strauss,
The Naked Man
, p. 291.
Lévi-Strauss,
The Naked Man
, p. 291.
66
Ibid., p. 515.
Ibid., p. 515.
67
Lévi-Strauss,
The Origin of Table Manners
, pp. 474-75.
Lévi-Strauss,
The Origin of Table Manners
, pp. 474-75.
68
Claude Lévi-Strauss, “Le triangle culinaire,”
L’Arc
, no. 26, 1965, pp. 19-29.
Claude Lévi-Strauss, “Le triangle culinaire,”
L’Arc
, no. 26, 1965, pp. 19-29.
69
Lévi-Strauss,
The Origin of Table Manners
, p. 484.
Lévi-Strauss,
The Origin of Table Manners
, p. 484.
70
Ibid., pp. 15-16.
Ibid., pp. 15-16.
71
Ibid., p. 469.
Ibid., p. 469.
72
Ibid., p. 131.
Ibid., p. 131.
73
Lévi-Strauss,
The Raw and the Cooked
, p. 26.
Lévi-Strauss,
The Raw and the Cooked
, p. 26.
1
Claude Lévi-Strauss in Eribon,
Conversations
, p. 142.
Claude Lévi-Strauss in Eribon,
Conversations
, p. 142.
2
Cited in Dosse,
History of Structuralism
, vol. 2, p. 144.
Cited in Dosse,
History of Structuralism
, vol. 2, p. 144.
3
“Man’s New Dialogue with Man,”
Time
.
“Man’s New Dialogue with Man,”
Time
.
4
Although Foucault was not in Paris during the May ’68 protests (he was working at the University of Tunis), on his return he would become actively involved in the protest movement, siding with students at the newly established university, Paris VIII at Vincennes, where he was head of the philosophy department.
Although Foucault was not in Paris during the May ’68 protests (he was working at the University of Tunis), on his return he would become actively involved in the protest movement, siding with students at the newly established university, Paris VIII at Vincennes, where he was head of the philosophy department.
5
Calvet,
Roland Barthes
, pp. 163-70.
Calvet,
Roland Barthes
, pp. 163-70.
6
“Le structuralisme, a-t-il été tué par Mai ’68?”
Le Monde
, November 30, 1968.
“Le structuralisme, a-t-il été tué par Mai ’68?”
Le Monde
, November 30, 1968.
7
Georges Balandier cited in François Dosse,
History of Structuralism
, vol. 2, p. 152.
Georges Balandier cited in François Dosse,
History of Structuralism
, vol. 2, p. 152.
8
Lévi-Strauss, interview for
L’Express
, in
Diacritics
, p. 45.
Lévi-Strauss, interview for
L’Express
, in
Diacritics
, p. 45.
9
Bertholet,
Claude Lévi-Strauss
, p. 283.
Bertholet,
Claude Lévi-Strauss
, p. 283.
10
Except for lectures given over the 1968-69 academic year, in which Lévi-Strauss examined Salish mythological themes involving fire/water and fog/wind, which he would cover later in
Histoire de Lynx
(1991).
Except for lectures given over the 1968-69 academic year, in which Lévi-Strauss examined Salish mythological themes involving fire/water and fog/wind, which he would cover later in
Histoire de Lynx
(1991).
11
Lévi-Strauss,
The Naked Man
, p. 35.
Lévi-Strauss,
The Naked Man
, p. 35.
12
Ibid., p. 624.
Ibid., p. 624.
13
Ibid., p. 510; “
nous comprenons pourquoi c’est lui, entre tous les mythes américains disponibles, qui s’est imposé à nous avant même que nous en sachions la raison
,”
L’Homme nu
(Paris: Plon, 1971), p. 458.
Ibid., p. 510; “
nous comprenons pourquoi c’est lui, entre tous les mythes américains disponibles, qui s’est imposé à nous avant même que nous en sachions la raison
,”
L’Homme nu
(Paris: Plon, 1971), p. 458.
14
Lévi-Strauss in Eribon,
Conversations
, pp. 136-37.
Lévi-Strauss in Eribon,
Conversations
, pp. 136-37.
15
The reason he gave for having used
nous
was to reduce the subject to “the insubstantial place or space where anonymous thought can develop, stand back from itself, find and fulfill its true tendencies and achieve organisation, while coming to terms with the constraints inherent in its very nature,” in Lévi-Strauss,
The Naked Man
, p. 625.
The reason he gave for having used
nous
was to reduce the subject to “the insubstantial place or space where anonymous thought can develop, stand back from itself, find and fulfill its true tendencies and achieve organisation, while coming to terms with the constraints inherent in its very nature,” in Lévi-Strauss,
The Naked Man
, p. 625.
16
Lévi-Strauss was drawing on the work of American scientist J. E. Amoore in the 1950s. In fact Amoore argued that only the first five smells were based on the molecule shape-receptor model; the last two, putrid and pungent, were recognized by their electrical charge. Other models of the perception of smell have since been proposed, including Luca Turin’s vibration theory, which forms the basis of Chandler Burr’s popular nonfiction book
The Emperor of Scent
(Random House, 2003).
Lévi-Strauss was drawing on the work of American scientist J. E. Amoore in the 1950s. In fact Amoore argued that only the first five smells were based on the molecule shape-receptor model; the last two, putrid and pungent, were recognized by their electrical charge. Other models of the perception of smell have since been proposed, including Luca Turin’s vibration theory, which forms the basis of Chandler Burr’s popular nonfiction book
The Emperor of Scent
(Random House, 2003).
17
Lévi-Strauss,
The Naked Man
, p. 692.
Lévi-Strauss,
The Naked Man
, p. 692.
18
Lévi-Strauss in Boutang and Chevallay,
Claude Lévi-Strauss in His Own Words
, 1:24:00.
Lévi-Strauss in Boutang and Chevallay,
Claude Lévi-Strauss in His Own Words
, 1:24:00.
19
Lévi-Strauss in Eribon,
Conversations
, p. 84.
Lévi-Strauss in Eribon,
Conversations
, p. 84.
20
Pierre Maranda, “Une fervente amitié,” in
Claude Lévi-Strauss
, ed. Michel Izard, p. 56.
Pierre Maranda, “Une fervente amitié,” in
Claude Lévi-Strauss
, ed. Michel Izard, p. 56.
21
“Réponse de M. Roger Caillois au discours de M. Claude Lévi-Strauss,” Académie française, June 27, 1974,
http://www.academie-francaise.fr/immortels/discours_reponses/caillois.html
.
“Réponse de M. Roger Caillois au discours de M. Claude Lévi-Strauss,” Académie française, June 27, 1974,
http://www.academie-francaise.fr/immortels/discours_reponses/caillois.html
.
22
Ibid.
Ibid.
23
See Maranda, “Une fervente amitié,” p. 55; Bertholet,
Claude Lévi-Strauss
, pp. 397-98.
See Maranda, “Une fervente amitié,” p. 55; Bertholet,
Claude Lévi-Strauss
, pp. 397-98.
24
Claude Lévi-Strauss letter to Denis Kambouchner, cited in “Lévi-Strauss and the Question of Humanism,” in
The Cambridge Companion to Lévi-Strauss
, ed. Boris Wiseman (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), p. 37.
Claude Lévi-Strauss letter to Denis Kambouchner, cited in “Lévi-Strauss and the Question of Humanism,” in
The Cambridge Companion to Lévi-Strauss
, ed. Boris Wiseman (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), p. 37.
25
Bertholet,
Claude Lévi-Strauss
, p. 369.
Bertholet,
Claude Lévi-Strauss
, p. 369.
26
Cited in Pace,
Claude Lévi-Strauss: The Bearer of Ashes
, p.193.
Cited in Pace,
Claude Lévi-Strauss: The Bearer of Ashes
, p.193.
Other books
The Song of the Gladiator by Paul Doherty
Altar of Eden by James Rollins
Bloodroot by Bill Loehfelm
The Man of Maybe Half-a-Dozen Faces by Ray Vukcevich
Full Bloom by Janet Evanovich [~amp]#38; Charlotte Hughes
A Cowboy in Manhattan by Barbara Dunlop
The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Jeanne Birdsall
Circus of the Unseen by Joanne Owen
The League of Spies by Aaron Allston
A Table of Green Fields by Guy Davenport
