Structuralism [further Considerations] | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

Structuralism [further Considerations]

STRUCTURALISM [FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS]. In 1970, Sir Edmund Leach wrote in his book about Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908–) that structuralism was held by many to be a new philosophy. "Lévi-Strauss," he stated, "is regarded among the intellectuals of his own country as the leading exponent of 'Structuralism,' a word which has come to be used as if it denoted a whole new philosophy of life on the analogy of 'Marxism' or 'Existentialism.' What is this 'Structuralism' all about?" (1970, p. 15). Leach has answered the question himself in a number of publications. His characterization may certainly be an apt impression of what was "in the air" in the 1960s. Later this was to change, but it is not quite off the mark to say that post-structuralism—sometimes presented as postmodernism—has since been highly advertised as much more than a method or a fashion; it has been heralded as grasping the very spirit of the age. It may seem so if one discusses the latest trends in late modern societies, but when applied to religion and the study of religion, the attractiveness of the latest intellectual fashions fade. Religions and religious traditions are much more conventional, traditional, and ritualized than late modern trends and fashions, and it therefore makes good sense to study religions and matters pertaining to religion in a structuralist framework.

Structuralism [further Considerations] article

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