What it is to be Human: An Overview of Structural Anthropology

Before diving into Structuralism, a brief word about Anthropology:

Anthropology is a comprehensive discipline. It is the study of cultures, social organizations, languages, and the environmental relationships of societies. It also examines the physical and genetic diversity of them.

Structural Anthropology operates at the intersection of archaeology, biological anthropology, socio-cultural anthropology, and linguistic anthropology. 

It is the study of being human.

Structuralism

Structuralism is a methodology which implies elements of human culture must be understood by way of their relationship to a broader, overarching system or structure. 

Or to put it another way; it examines the underlying structures which sit behind culture.¹

Claude Lévi-Strauss was one of the most prominent social scientists of the twentieth century. He is the founder of structural anthropology and known for his work on the theory of structuralism.²

Equality of Culture: Why Structuralism is Important

The importance of Lévi-Strauss can be found outside of the field of Anthropology. Structuralism requires us to examine the similarities of the human experience prior to dissecting cultural differences.

Humans want to understand the world around them and the human brain is wired to organize. This results in universal questions using different systems of understanding to explain the world.

Structuralism doesn’t place one culture in a hierarchy of importance over another. 

It does not place one mythology over anothers.

“Mythology confronts the student with a situation which at first sight appears contradictory. On the one hand it would seem that in the course of a myth anything is likely to happen. There is no logic, no continuity. Any characteristic can be attributed to any subject; every conceivable relation can be found. With myth, everything becomes possible. But on the other hand, this apparent arbitrariness is belied by the astounding similarity between myths collected in widely different regions. Therefore the problem: If the content of a myth is contingent, how are we going to explain the fact that myths throughout the world are so similar?”

–Claude Lévi-Strauss ³

The requirement of accepting a universal foundation prior to studying a culture’s beliefs and social structure brings with it unity. And a powerful tool in fighting group bias.

This is not to say Structuralism is without its critics. Many scholars want to take a more interpretative approach to cultural analysis than Structuralism typically allows. They want a more critical take on the structures, starting with the question, “Who do the structures serve?”

Conclusion

Anthropology is often viewed as a niche discipline by students in university.

Even those seeking to broaden their general knowledge outside of school may not see its value. 

But due to its depth of focus, some knowledge of anthropology is valuable. It is becoming more and more relevant in a globalizing world with technical but often superficial connections.

Structural Anthropology is an important starting point for learning what it means to be human. 

---

---

Sources And Further Study

1. Structuralism and Semiotics: WTF? Saussure, Lévi-Strauss, Barthes and Structuralism Explained    
2. Claude Lévi-Strauss on Race, History, and Genetics 
3. The Structural Study of Myth 
4. Structural Anthropology by Claude Levi-Strauss    
5. Featured image by Nino Carè from Pixabay