We Are All Cannibals

And Other Essays

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Discrimination & Race Relations, Anthropology
Cover of the book We Are All Cannibals by Claude Lévi-Strauss, Columbia University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Claude Lévi-Strauss ISBN: 9780231541268
Publisher: Columbia University Press Publication: March 15, 2016
Imprint: Columbia University Press Language: English
Author: Claude Lévi-Strauss
ISBN: 9780231541268
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Publication: March 15, 2016
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Language: English

On Christmas Eve 1951, Santa Claus was hanged and then publicly burned outside of the Cathedral of Dijon in France. That same decade, ethnologists began to study the indigenous cultures of central New Guinea, and found men and women affectionately consuming the flesh of the ones they loved. "Everyone calls what is not their own custom barbarism," said Montaigne. In these essays, Claude Lévi-Strauss shows us behavior that is bizarre, shocking, and even revolting to outsiders but consistent with a people's culture and context.

These essays relate meat eating to cannibalism, female circumcision to medically assisted reproduction, and mythic thought to scientific thought. They explore practices of incest and patriarchy, nature worship versus man-made material obsessions, the perceived threat of art in various cultures, and the innovations and limitations of secular thought. Lévi-Strauss measures the short distance between "complex" and "primitive" societies and finds a shared madness in the ways we enact myth, ritual, and custom. Yet he also locates a pure and persistent ethics that connects the center of Western civilization to far-flung societies and forces a reckoning with outmoded ideas of morality and reason.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

On Christmas Eve 1951, Santa Claus was hanged and then publicly burned outside of the Cathedral of Dijon in France. That same decade, ethnologists began to study the indigenous cultures of central New Guinea, and found men and women affectionately consuming the flesh of the ones they loved. "Everyone calls what is not their own custom barbarism," said Montaigne. In these essays, Claude Lévi-Strauss shows us behavior that is bizarre, shocking, and even revolting to outsiders but consistent with a people's culture and context.

These essays relate meat eating to cannibalism, female circumcision to medically assisted reproduction, and mythic thought to scientific thought. They explore practices of incest and patriarchy, nature worship versus man-made material obsessions, the perceived threat of art in various cultures, and the innovations and limitations of secular thought. Lévi-Strauss measures the short distance between "complex" and "primitive" societies and finds a shared madness in the ways we enact myth, ritual, and custom. Yet he also locates a pure and persistent ethics that connects the center of Western civilization to far-flung societies and forces a reckoning with outmoded ideas of morality and reason.

More books from Columbia University Press

Cover of the book The Best American Magazine Writing 2015 by Claude Lévi-Strauss
Cover of the book Critical Models by Claude Lévi-Strauss
Cover of the book The Police Power by Claude Lévi-Strauss
Cover of the book A Time to Stir by Claude Lévi-Strauss
Cover of the book Psychosocial Capacity Building in Response to Disasters by Claude Lévi-Strauss
Cover of the book Avengers Assemble! by Claude Lévi-Strauss
Cover of the book The Body Incantatory by Claude Lévi-Strauss
Cover of the book An Outline of a Theory of Civilization by Claude Lévi-Strauss
Cover of the book The Dawn That Never Comes by Claude Lévi-Strauss
Cover of the book Literature and Film in Cold War South Korea by Claude Lévi-Strauss
Cover of the book Frustrated Democracy in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan by Claude Lévi-Strauss
Cover of the book Dinosaurs by Claude Lévi-Strauss
Cover of the book Movie Journal by Claude Lévi-Strauss
Cover of the book The Cinema of James Cameron by Claude Lévi-Strauss
Cover of the book Security and Profit in China’s Energy Policy by Claude Lévi-Strauss
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy