Anthropological Theory: A podcast created by anthropology students · Laurette McGuire

Structuralism

·12 min·1 clip

Daisy explains how Lévi-Strauss used binary oppositions like male/female and win/lose to find hidden truths in tribal myths.

Two anthropology students, Mo and Daisy, provide an introductory overview of structuralism as a theoretical approach. They trace its origins to Ferdinand de Saussure in linguistics, then explore key applications by figures like Claude Lévi-Strauss in anthropology (analyzing tribal myths through binary oppositions), Roland Barthes in literary criticism, Émile Durkheim in sociology, and Jacques Lacan and Michel Foucault in psychoanalysis and philosophy. The episode concludes by acknowledging counterarguments and the interdisciplinary tensions within the structuralist movement.

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