Culture and Communication: The Logic by which Symbols Are Connected. An Introduction to the Use of Structuralist Analysis in Social Anthropology (Themes in the Social Sciences) - Softcover

Leach, Edmund

Softcover

ISBN 10: 052129052X ISBN 13: 9780521290524

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1976

Synopsis

Edmund Leach's book investigates the writings of 'structuralists,' and their different theories: the general incest theory and of animal sacrifice. This book is designed for the use of teaching undergraduates in anthropology, linguistics, literary studies, philosophy and related disciplines faced with structuralist argument. It provides the prolegomena necessary to understand the final chapter of Levi-Strauss's massive four-volume Mythologiques. Some prior knowledge of anthropological literature is useful but not essential. The principal ethnographic source is the Book of Leviticus; this guide should help anyone who is trying to grasp the essentials of 'seminology' - the general theory of how signs and symbols come to convey meaning. The author's core thesis is that: 'the indices in non-verbal communication systems, like the sound elements in spoken language, do not have meaning as isolates, but only as members of set'; the book's special merit is that it makes this kind of jargon comprehensible in terms of our everyday experience.

About this title

Book Description

An introduction to the use of structuralist analysis in social anthropology, explaining semiology, elucidating the arguments of Barthes and Greimas, starting and ending with Lévi-Strauss' comparison of the symphony orchestra with a cultural system, and using throughout simple language.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1976
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 052129052X
• ISBN 13: 9780521290524
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 116