• Topics▼
  Books Design / Art Events Misc. Movies Music Sunday Roundup Toyz TV Shows Video games Works / Projects

• Archive▼
  February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007

• Websites▼
  Max Dana, Official Site The Sama Gazette The World of Sama da-eYe

• Blog Anniversary Posts▼
  2010: Third anniversary 2009: 2nd time's a charm 2008: First anniversary 2007: Here we go!

Claude Lévi-Strauss has died last week, at 100. He was a renowned French anthropologist and ethnologist, and for many he revolutionized anthropology and sociology; his study of primitive tribes deeply modified the accepted view of primitive societies being inferior to the so-called civilized societies. Lévi-Strauss was a great thinker and an explorer, even if the work done by the often called “father of modern anthropology” is far from having unanimous support among his fellow colleagues. But everyone agrees on the fact that Claude Lévi-Strauss‘ studies had a huge impact on defining common patterns of behaviour and thought in all human societies. Others’ cultures are not so different from ‘ours’.

And it is what has caught my attention when I started to get interest in Claude Lévi-Strauss writings. From an early age, I had the chance to have friends coming from many different countries, and French was not necessarily their mother tongue. I was always amazed to discover their traditions and I considered a richness to be ‘different’ while living in the same country. I thought diversity was what brought us together. On the other hand, I also heard adults saying these people were ‘different’ but the term was used in a complete different way, the pejorative one. This is when I started to think about the definition of ‘being different’ as I was baffled by the studied indifference expressed by people supposed to have experienced the diversity of our world.

If you don’t know the work of Claude Lévi-Strauss, maybe you should take the time to read his book: ‘Tristes Tropiques’ (maybe you noticed the pun intended with the title of this post) which has been on my shelf for years, it is a masterpiece and easy to read if you are afraid of philosophy. And also ‘The Raw and The Cooked’. I can’t sum up his whole work in two books, so I invite you to learn more about him by yourself. He was a nostalgic and sometimes bitter about our crazy societies. I remember he once said in an interview in 2004 (Esprits Libres, French television) something which had a profound impact on me: ‘What I see are the current devastation, the frightening disappearances of living species, be they plants or animals. Because of its current density, the human species is living in a type of internally poisonous regime’ followed by (often truncated): ‘I’m thinking about now and the world I’m ending my days, this world that I do not love’.

The death of Claude Lévi-Straussis a loss to the whole of humanity. The world has lost one of its greatest thinker but his studies will always be up to date. His main message was clear and comprehensible by everyone. I am not into structuralism and my point of view may differ from what he stated, but I am a great admirer of the tremendous work he did and what he brought to our societies. Many people die everyday. Some people we knew for years, some people who held an important place in our lives. Claude Lévi-Strauss was definitely someone who held an important place in my life, and I hope closed-minded people will learn from him, eventually.