Cart
Free US shipping over $10
Proud to be B-Corp

Levi-Strauss Today Robert Deliege

Levi-Strauss Today By Robert Deliege

Levi-Strauss Today by Robert Deliege


$10.00
Condition - Very Good
Only 1 left

Summary

Claude Levi-Strauss has had a huge impact on the course of contemporary anthropology. This work gives an overview of the themes that have marked structural anthropology. It takes a look at how structuralism developed. It addresses the relevance of structuralism to contemporary anthropology and its deficiencies as a tool for understanding culture.

Levi-Strauss Today Summary

Levi-Strauss Today: An Introduction to Structural Anthropology by Robert Deliege

Robert Deliege's book provides a concise overview of the monumental work of one of the greatest and most prolific thinkers of the 20th century. Claude Levi-Strauss has had a profound and lasting impact on the course of contemporary anthropology. One could further argue that he has spawned a discipline in and of itself, so widespread has the influence of structuralism been, from linguistics to philosophy to psychology. Of all living anthropologists, he is without doubt the one most written about. Beyond anthropology, he has had a formative influence on such thinkers as Jean-Paul Sartre, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Ernest Gellner, Jean Piaget, Paul Ricur and Vladimir Propp, to name but a few. But from myth and totemism through to the savage mind, Levi-Strauss has perhaps most shaped modern anthropology. Levi-Strauss Today first gives a general overview of the major themes that have marked structural anthropology. Deliege then takes a critical look at how structuralism first developed some fifty years ago and argues that historical distance now enables us to view it with objectivity. Addressing the relevance of structuralism to contemporary anthropology as well as its deficiencies as a tool for understanding culture, Delige goes on to review Levi-Strauss body of work. He also looks at several figures who have been influenced by structuralism and situates their work within the context of contemporary anthropology. While Deliege notes that structuralisms binary oppositions are perhaps no longer fashionable, he argues that Levi-Strauss visionary work sparked the debate, criticism and fervour that revived social anthropology at a critical point in the development of the discipline. This reappraisal is essential reading for students and indeed anyone wishing to have a handy introduction to Levi-Strauss.

Levi-Strauss Today Reviews

This [is a] concise synthesis that appraises Levi-Strauss philosophy without indulgence or awe. Sciences Humaines et Sociales An introduction to the rich and dense works of the French ethnologist [Deliege] admiration does not prevent him from taking a detached perspective towards this philosophy that, whilst no longer giving rise to strong feelings, can nevertheless be described as 'classic'. Nature, Science et Societe

About Robert Deliege

Robert Deliege is Professor of Social Anthropology, Universite de Louvain-la-Neuve. Translated from the French by Nora Scott

Table of Contents

Introduction A monument A way of looking at things Part two Structuralist thought Chapter 1.The foundations / 16 Rousseau, inventor of the sciences of man Structural linguistics Mauss and exchange Boas and diffusionism Chapter 2. Beyond empiricism / 21 A world of the mind The illusion of transparency What about the unconscious? Chapter 3. Structuralism / 25 Social structure Structure Chapter 4. The primacy of the mind / 29 The symbolic origins of society Binary oppositions The rejection of history The Culinary Triangle Part three Tristes Tropiques Chapter 1. A critique of modernity / 38 A remarkable book Filth thrown into the face of mankind Against progress Chapter 2. Charming savages / 45 A disappointing encounter The savage to the aid of Rousseau Solving problems A better world Part four Kinship Chapter 1. The incest taboo / 52 The basics Nature and culture The hidden side of exchange The circulation of women The atom of kinship Radcliffe-Browns analysis Lvi-Strauss critique A kinship structure Chapter 2. Preferential marriage / 58 The principle Cross and parallel cousins Why marry a cousin? The demonstration Kinds of exchanges and cousins Marriage with the bilateral cousin Marriage with the matrilateral cross cousin Marriage with the patrilateral cross cousin Discussion Towards a formalization? Prescriptive or preferential? Rules and strategies The case of the Paraiyars The woman as commodity The circulation of women Part five Symbolic classifications Chapter 1. Totemism / 68 Classification A cognitive approach The illusion of totemism Totemism and exogamy Towards the mind From Durkheim to social anthropology The philosophers contribution Systems of differences Taking a stand Chapter 2. The savage mind / 74 Beyond the primitive mind Lvy-Bruhl The savage scientist Classificatory logic The science of the concrete From totem to caste In answeess of symbols / 80 The sorcerer and his magic Belief The power of words Abreaction The shamanistic cure The magical incantation The cure Critique Part six Mythology Chapter 1. The basis of myths / 88 The importance of studying myths A vast undertaking Why myths? An innovative approach Earlier theories The myth in itself Transformations An example The origin of fire From one order to the other From Shakespeare to Perrault Chapter 2. The raw, the cooked, honey and ashes / 95 The science of mythology More reasoning An Ojibwa myth An ontological solution The story of Aswidal Part seven The impact of structuralism in social anthropology Chapter 1. The development of French anthropology / 103 Towards a noble science Enlargement of the field of study Chapter 2. Sources of influence in France / 106 A Marxist structuralism Kinship or formalism Structuralism in India Chapter 3. Anglo-Saxon anthropology / 114 Alliance theory Edmund Leach Purity and danger Culture and practical reason Conclusion / 123 Glossary / 125 Selected bibliography / 127

Additional information

GOR007735456
9781859738382
1859738389
Levi-Strauss Today: An Introduction to Structural Anthropology by Robert Deliege
Used - Very Good
Paperback
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
2004-05-01
160
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - Levi-Strauss Today