“In the case of European towns, the passing of centuries provides an enhancement; in the case of American towns, the passing of years brings degeneration. It is not simply that they have been newly built; they were built so as to be renewable as quickly as they were put up, that is, badly.”
Tristes Tropiques is a personal account of Claude Lévi-Strauss's travels through the Amazon and Madagascar. The book combines his observations of indigenous cultures with reflections on the nature of culture and society. Lévi-Strauss's work is characterized by its structuralist approach, which seeks to uncover the underlying patterns and structures that underlie human societies. more
Claude Levi-Strauss was a French anthropologist known for his structuralist theories and his analyses of myths, kinship, and human culture. His work has had a profound impact on post-structuralism and semiotics. more
“Natural man did not precede society, nor is he outside it.”
“In science, the best precept is to alter and exchange our ideas as fast as science moves ahead.”
“Particular facts are never scientific; only generalization can establish science.”