Claude Levi-Strauss

Claude Lévi-Strauss and the Making of Structural Anthropology

Marcel Hénaff
Translated by Mary Baker

OUT OF PRINT

An authoritative analysis of this central figure in twentieth-century thought.

The most comprehensive, precise, and up-to-date account of the work of Claude Lévi-Strauss yet written (and Lévi-Strauss's favorite presentation of his own work), this book offers an unparalleled view of the thought of the man who single-handedly reinvented anthropology. With close attention to the wide range of knowledge that informs Lévi-Strauss's work, Marcel Hénaff has written an authoritative and accessible analysis of Lévi-Strauss's research in anthropological theory and practice as well as his contributions to the debates surrounding linguistics, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics.

The book begins with a clear explication of the concept of structure, both demonstrating the relevance and defining the limits of the structural approach to the social sciences. Hénaff's focus, like that of his subject, is social anthropology. Within this field, he gives painstaking attention to three areas that distinguish Lévi-Strauss's work: kinship systems, systems of classification, and mythologies. His discussion moves from broad questions such as "What differentiates 'historical' societies from those called primitive?" to particular ones, such as "What does Lévi-Strauss mean by symbolism? totemism? wild thought?"

From these topics, Hénaff goes on to consider general philosophical issues concerning the theoretical status of anthropology and the cultural status of the anthropologist. In light of Lévi-Strauss's work, he looks at ideas about the universality of the human mind and logical categories, the representation of time in oral cultures and their relation to history, and the responsibility of Western societies to now-vanishing oral cultures. An extensive chronology and detailed bibliography present a valuable overview of Lévi-Strauss's career.

As debates surrounding structuralism subside, and as anthropology continues to transform itself, this book at last affords a broad and balanced account of the remarkable accomplishments of one of the great intellectual innovators of the twentieth century.

"An impressive study. Readers jaded or overwhelmed by the proliferation of domains staking a claim to the structuralist legacy will be especially appreciative of Hénaff’s restriction to only those areas explicitly addressed by Lévi-Strauss. To every topic Hénaff has brought to bear his rigorous training as a philosopher, subjecting each one to as thorough a treatment as the others. The result is that the reader feels intellectually challenged in a lively and engaging dialogue with the author as well as his subject. To sum up the results of Hénaff’s careful yet engrossing study would be a great injustice to what is tantamount to an intellectual feast – an overview that manages to be at once accessible to the novice and relevant to the informed reader. Hénaff brings clarification and enlightenment to issues ostensibly so familiar that they have entered the repertoire of common knowledge of most post-’68 academics. This updated perspective provides us with a scrupulously balanced assessment that would have been virtually impossible 20 years ago. Thus, we conclude that what has initially appeared as an impossible task is one that has been executed with an exemplary patience, seriousness, and rigor for which we are most grateful." —Substance

"[This] well-translated and accessible study will be a valuable anthropological teaching and learning aid for exploring the intricacies of Lévi-Strauss’s work." —MAN

Marcel Hénaff is a philosopher and anthropologist at the University of California, San Diego. Montréal, Québec. His books include Public Space and Democracy and Sade.

Mary Baker is a professional translator whose translations include Social Origins of Religion by Roger Bastide and The Existence of the External World by Jean-René Vernes (2001).

288 pages | 7 figures | 5 7/8 x 9 | 1998

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Claude Lévi-Strauss and the Making of Structural Anthropology Marcel Hénaff Translated by Mary Baker		OUT OF PRINT
An authoritative analysis of this central figure in twentieth-century thought. The most comprehensive, precise, and up-to-date account of the work of Claude Lévi-Strauss yet written (and Lévi-Strauss's favorite presentation of his own work), this book offers an unparalleled view of the thought of the man who single-handedly reinvented anthropology. With close attention to the wide range of knowledge that informs Lévi-Strauss's work, Marcel Hénaff has written an authoritative and accessible analysis of Lévi-Strauss's research in anthropological theory and practice as well as his contributions to the debates surrounding linguistics, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics. The book begins with a clear explication of the concept of structure, both demonstrating the relevance and defining the limits of the structural approach to the social sciences. Hénaff's focus, like that of his subject, is social anthropology. Within this field, he gives painstaking attention to three areas that distinguish Lévi-Strauss's work: kinship systems, systems of classification, and mythologies. His discussion moves from broad questions such as "What differentiates 'historical' societies from those called primitive?" to particular ones, such as "What does Lévi-Strauss mean by symbolism? totemism? wild thought?" From these topics, Hénaff goes on to consider general philosophical issues concerning the theoretical status of anthropology and the cultural status of the anthropologist. In light of Lévi-Strauss's work, he looks at ideas about the universality of the human mind and logical categories, the representation of time in oral cultures and their relation to history, and the responsibility of Western societies to now-vanishing oral cultures. An extensive chronology and detailed bibliography present a valuable overview of Lévi-Strauss's career. As debates surrounding structuralism subside, and as anthropology continues to transform itself, this book at last affords a broad and balanced account of the remarkable accomplishments of one of the great intellectual innovators of the twentieth century. "An impressive study. Readers jaded or overwhelmed by the proliferation of domains staking a claim to the structuralist legacy will be especially appreciative of Hénaff’s restriction to only those areas explicitly addressed by Lévi-Strauss. To every topic Hénaff has brought to bear his rigorous training as a philosopher, subjecting each one to as thorough a treatment as the others. The result is that the reader feels intellectually challenged in a lively and engaging dialogue with the author as well as his subject. To sum up the results of Hénaff’s careful yet engrossing study would be a great injustice to what is tantamount to an intellectual feast – an overview that manages to be at once accessible to the novice and relevant to the informed reader. Hénaff brings clarification and enlightenment to issues ostensibly so familiar that they have entered the repertoire of common knowledge of most post-’68 academics. This updated perspective provides us with a scrupulously balanced assessment that would have been virtually impossible 20 years ago. Thus, we conclude that what has initially appeared as an impossible task is one that has been executed with an exemplary patience, seriousness, and rigor for which we are most grateful." —Substance "[This] well-translated and accessible study will be a valuable anthropological teaching and learning aid for exploring the intricacies of Lévi-Strauss’s work." —MAN Marcel Hénaff is a philosopher and anthropologist at the University of California, San Diego. Montréal, Québec. His books include Public Space and Democracy and Sade. Mary Baker is a professional translator whose translations include Social Origins of Religion by Roger Bastide and The Existence of the External World by Jean-René Vernes (2001). 288 pages \| 7 figures \| 5 7/8 x 9 \| 1998