FaxuiltxruD 'paoluary

ssa/L d,Qt aa at up paoluu lg

ZLÃIIIID CIìOC{ITf

ilqfi4v sa 6r0opdo'tqtuy aqa

SIIAIT AÌ{V S)ì{OAA

!itxãpuI

6zt ;,re,u,iuy rI sI aJI-I esoq \ :ãrãIf Surag'9

zor slã^ell sJfrPeurg :síì-]oN/síl.J

tL uJJplrqC s(rìs,r\ourTery :3ulssaullL1-1'7

6+ sanua.redsue{uelr{V s.pJerllllrd-suEAã :,{\otls JpITS't

Sz .senbrdo-r1 sâtsr{, pEãì ot ,ttolf :lxãJ E uI plro A JtlJ'z

r 8urlr.rr11Jo ãuãrs rr.lr pue ,r8o1odo:qruv :JrãtlJ SuregT

SJN!IJÌ{OC

Sz

Íucxr ,(ru :trdsep-slfâSJ rr{t pue 's;no ueq} speaq ratee:8

pâurnl s!LI rrrtlrr rlâtït ot sSurqr ;o a8pa rql tuo{ à\otu

r aletldna;d og 'po::nrro r:râ ptq (s:rreuJqttu pue ,(3<;

-lolq Jo sued atuos IIJ,\J cslllsln8url ifurerq:,isd 's:tltlod 'ue

ifuorsrq',Go1oeqr',iqdosopqd'a;nle:atq) sppg 8ur:oqq8r:u

Jo uorSp,\LII âlesrloq.{\ ãqt âìll Sutqtou tng 'Pertr^ü pe:.r ,ipoq

-,(;c,ra lnoge tsnÍ 'lsuel le sJlElS PãIIU1ì âql ur 'pue iuosurl

-tV peã-r 'sep 'pna.rg lue8.ro1ç pea.r sla8uE '.sazetl p!el IoITE:ãJoJJq ãJrl IEJnrlnJ p:ru.r8 ãql olul 'a:eql pue JJJII ',ie,t slr

pâìJo,\\ puq eurldr:slp Jt{J ':eaddesrp uoos lou ilL!\-({I-lfltJS-âr IIE jo :1dr:ur.rd âq1,, uetlt ssel Surqrou PUnoJ pELI rtl

pJrEIrJp eJUo ssntrts-I.\â-I qrlq.\\ rrr-,iqde;SouqlJ o1 ,ilpn

-adsr tsoru pue ',r!o1odoJqlut or rq8no-rq utslltrnltnJls ]Etll

a:uet;odut IEIÌIJJIIJIuI Jo âsuJS ãql (ãlJJJUof, JLII JO âJUJ

-rfs f,rll ro 'uoseâJ Á,reurq 'satueq}ttu 'uJtuo.{r Suttelnurl 3osJr.uofJq rã,\ãlttÌM'l::ígns sllJo JSLIJs srl uttllJlâstrJo JSUãs

s.,t3o1odo;qlut Jâllìl ol Jrotu JJtltEJ ãuoP sEL{ (e:uase.rd

rlqrqo:dur ue iq pãrunouue Surlppr-run uJpPns E sE âLuer

tr lp;o,u :ado-rd Jql sr ((luâApe,,) rusqernlJnJls Jo tuã^PE âLÌI

,sanbado,ta sa$?,rJ, paay U úLoH

TXIII Y NI CITì{OM IIHJ

.Z

THE WORLD IN Â TEXT

not altogether bacl-n'ill be u'ith us, I think' more or less

permanenth/.What is most striking, ho*'cter, in aÌl of this is that. us-

ing the rvord in its uncensorious sense, it u'as an essentiallv

rhetorical accomplishment. It was not thc ocld fàcts or the

o,,en odder explanations Lér'i-Strauss brought f-orth that

made of him (as Susan Sontag, r.vho is in charge of such mat-

tcrs, called him) an intellectual hero.' It x'as the mode of dis-

course he invented to displav thosc fàcts and frame those ex-

planations.Thc re-analvsis of the Oedipus stor\/ onlv partlv aside'

the particular findings of strucfuralist anthropologv have

had scarccÌv more effect bevond the borders of the cliscipline

than those of functionalism, culfure and personalin'srudies,

or sociaÌ evolutionism; quite possiblr', cr'en less. What

changed the mind of the age, as none of those ever did' rvas

the sense thatE-new languagc had appeared in u'hich ever\/-

thing from ladies'fashions, as in Roland Barthcs's Le Sys'

tèrne d.e ln mod'e, to ncurologr', as in F{ou'ard Gardner's Táe

Questfor Mind. cotldbe usefullv discussed'' It was a o'cle of

terms (sign, codc, transformation, opposition, exchange,

communication, metaPhor, meton\rmY) mYth, . . . struc-

ture), borrou,ed and rervorked from the lexicons of science

and art alike, that defined Lévi-Strauss's enterprise for those

whose interest in Australian section systems or Bororo vil-

lage shapes was at bcst limited. More than anvthing else' he

cleared an imaginative space that a generation of characters

in search of a play rushed to occuPY.

Again, I should make it clear, especially in the light of

Ì S. Sontag, "The Anthropologist as Hero''' in S. Sorrtag' '4.qaìnst Inte rpre-

tation (Nell York, I9ór), PP. ó9-8I.)R. BartÌres, Le

'Sisìème tte ta wod'e (Patis, rsol); H. Gardncr. The Quest for

Mintl: Piaget, Lépi-Strauss, and the Structuralìst L[ovemenf (Nerr'York, t9z3)'

z6

LZ

'i-u -lrz'eld'(ó-Ól' Í N'Poo\\loN

[ttrat11 {o uotryutiuwl ríJ' spâ'ueio8u:-1 Y put ràì)ãfl V ul "'àl]PrqJ

\\opeqs

.*.iur*i ur \'rrqrs)v Ftt ìH.,l";:;.G :Ëu'p1tng lxàr" 'ràì'ìàg 'vf

ql.rrt Surddr'rp-aso:d lsJroJ-uleJ snoureJ 'uou Áq slq teqÌ

rsuss pãzlu8o:ar aql ut lsní tou {nl$Ip-s1rH 'suoxes-olbuv

pâtooJ-]EH ro3 'panË're uâãg sãull]ãulos sELì s! '^luo lou PUE

lpear ot l1nrulp Ârr SI âq rÚql " "r'""5-i'\r-I

ol q:eo'rddt

((tIrr-lII,, E qtrns Jo^ãnpn "*'p"*t ]::ï,tut 'asrnor Sg

,'-o1àdo'qlut uI sat3eterls Surpynq-rxãl ilel

Ártu auo (re1:ag t""ry tsrn8uq âql uJo.l; 'ga'u se s?âpl âluos

pur 'ru;at " 8.rr^o"oql ttq^1" tâIrllqErsq âlqelrEJlul lsolu

Jr1r Jo ãulos olu. " "1"' "qi'8or

lnd st '1;o'n sltl Jo eloq"\\

ãrl1 sãl"ulumilI lsotu ì"q' tt'o stll pue slxã1 slq Jo lsâug

a'4t' s o n b t d o'tL s 2 I s?'t'J't'roq Á1r:txa t;"*-i"'txa1 ssnt:t5 -t't91

e .üor{ go .rorr"u"ítntq 'q1 'Árole:o plrqod ;o '8utlurcd

'Á.naod uI sI lI st 't3o1odorçu* ut snor\Jltllsfu sE y-znuryt^

-?(l LuoJJ 1x,L1t(l':r:o1âtlJ uro{ âluelsqns 'tu:o1 uroJJ luãluof,

-rr Áes Áaqr 'uoq uo:3 siies âuoâtuos lel^\Jo ""tt:]"i-::'ïi -r"{i;;;ü"'a'tqt io;

""od ut t-t-:l.sutt'ulurnlll ÁFeqnr

-ad e .sr ìJO,^A srq ,arlltr

"ro-'sr ãIf (('JellJ'\\-JOq1ÍÌe' utlsstllJEg

E st ssntrls-'n91 l'*t"ddt or rue't l ttql 'peuaAuo)ufl put

a,trlet:a.rddt 'a'rrr:eds'rad E qfns tuo:; 'elu [ue lt 'st ]I

'tulq ãIEnIIS or sl 1l lulq asn::e ollou sI luâlul *:ï:Ï

-plro,!\ qlt'tt Sunt;'* '" "o'*os

ã1ll:ptrtqr oI '1urod aqt

ãprsãq elmb st'saìSarurs snolllqure -s

sâ1 8uu'ra3a'rd'pa; oqtne

f,tl uolllpErl ãqr LII â1Il!\ ol l:t'""Ï

lou uIE 31as't'ru I ]Eq]

rrpJ âtlylsãnr] 'qì 'a"q"d.ry tJ^^ttteu'3uo 3r-Á3o1od

-oJtltut u, ,.t'oq"f,, "'"' Jql -tÕ au-o '(1'rra1: sI ssntJls-t,r?-I

'prÀIâ)ãJ ser{ lr t'oát''o" ãLIl Jo iqlro'tr 'raqla8orp 'luatu

-â,\JItl)? 8t"tt*s t'se lJels Surpu^ers E uIoJI qeâJ âsJnofslp

ârlruâ .," ro "ot"ì';;1il' ti:3:: t"qt:p"'* 3o ;iqdosol

-rqd e se lI ol ^tqllsoq

rq8urno t* lL"

ure:8o;d qrrtãsãr ? se

Daíord tsllsJÍuf,nrls ât{l pltÂ\ol tust:t}deìs pãllrurPt u'\\o Álu

IXiII V NI O'IUO'AA !IHI

THE WORLD IN A TEXT

steamy metaphors, overgrown ri.'ith luxuriant images, and

flowered with cxtravagarÌt puns ("thoughts" and "pansies,"

"wavs" and "toicesr" and perhaps, considering the text at

hand, even "tropes" and "tropics")-is so easv to get lost in'

He is difficult in the deeper and morc serious sense that al-

though, st,vlistic extravagânces aside, his books look like or-

clinarv anthropological works, evcn at times like rather old-

fãshioned ones, Bureau of American Ethnographv mono-

graphs reincarnated, thel'are not. Thet'are another gcnre

under the sun. To approach Tristes Tropiques r'vith reading

habits formed bv experience u'ith We, the Tikopin or Pat-

terns of Cwbwe or even rvith q'hat might seem a better

modcl but is reallv a worse one, Tbe Golden Bowgb, is rather

like the little old ladv in the Thurber vignette rvho found

Macbeth lacking as a detective stor\/ because it n'as clear

rvhodunit from quite earÌv on.

But the main reason for regarding Lóvi-Strauss in a lit-

erary wav is not the exegetical one, structuralism made eas\',

but that his rvorks, and Tt'istes Tropiques most Particularh',fbrm excellent cases upon u'hich to train such a regard.

The innoccnce about tcxt-buildin$ that I ascribed to

our profcssion in gerteral in the last chapter certainh' docs

not applv to him. Were hc anv mort: selficotlscious' he rn'ould

transport to a higher plane. In the rvhole of anthropologv

thcre are no rvorks more self:referential-i'vorks that point

aíóften to thcmselvcs as artifacts' and deliberatelr', as thcv

do to rvhat thev are ostensibll'about-,thanTt"ìstes Tt'opiques.

It is a classic examplc of the book rvhose subject is in grcat

part itself, whose purpose is to displav rvhat, rvere it a novel,

rn'e rvoulcl call its fictionalit-v; a painting, its planaritl'; a

dancc, its comportment: its existence as a made thing.

If one reads, sa,t', Mevcr Fortes's The Tallensi or E. E.

Evans-Pritchard's The Nuer. one can and usuallv does feel

z8

67

Icrros âqr Áq u.&\op pJTIIU sI lI tn{ 'sdars Suupq 'pa; lsrll sll

sâìeru lI qrlq,!\ ut 'dtqsunl 'suretuop p:r8o1odo-rqrut Jo PrEp-utls rsoru teql uI Vluatud al Jp e,ualuauu?1? satnpn/4g s27

qtr,r sur8aq ast.rd;elua tsllprnDnrts rta-r8 aq1 'euo qsr33rq11

r ,tlpttuassa 'eq ol pusl s^\ãn JEãuII st 'st ,uar,r srql'p:totuo:d DEJ uI stq 'rusttt-rorslq Jo stuJoJ 1p or Árr

-[]sorÌ snorrreJ srq Sur.raplsuo: 'uorurdo ,(ru ut uolleJgllsr(lu

ârerrqrlãp Jo llq E se Jlasrurq ssntJlg-IÀll ,{\3I^ E :luâtudole

-âp JEJUII E sE tI ãâs ol sr 's.rau:atser11 f,IlslflJolslq ol JEITIUTeJ

pur eldurs os sruãâs lI Jsntfâg cuotLrLuof ::oru aqr 'a1oq,t t

sE ìJo,tr s(sslÌErls-L\9T or sâqJeo.rddt lensn o,\u Jqr JO

-xa i.ru:ettl e rsnÍ (1eqr1rEIÌIruEJ e doldua o1) rou sI ìooq E IerI-8ate:ts os 3o sel8altrls ârlt rno Sutre;1 'ìool luJJã:UIp JstllEJ

E 'r.usrlellìr)n;rs ot .i1r::.rrpur ÌsEJI lE snql pue 'a'tans,o lvt4l

ot sa,tt8 teq] ãuo plltlt E a,L?xiul a'L(Lnal Jtlt ol uJ)El ,\fensn

saq:eo:dde o^\t ãqt ot asod:rlunoJ u!l 3rt\ lilleJãuJ8 ssal

Jertsru aqr rnd or -rO 'f,tntltsuof sged asoqr ,urTerol pâploJ

-un ,r1eã.rr1 .r\ou ,iQ ãtlt Jo pue dn tI âìEtu reqr sr:ed oiÌl Joqloq '1;o,r scssn!JlS-L\J'I Jo uolletr:d::tttl pJtpuelsun leq.A\

-ãruos E ot uo spval sanbt.do'ta sa$!',LJ ot t1:to:ddt llmq-rxâl

-srql-sl-,\\oq t qJns tttll st 'tJ-\ã,t\otl '1t:tlr:: tt t"U^.r rrr"

JLro,(uE 'arutpqruou p:r8olotualstda plo Jqf qrr^ tr"r1 i,

'q8no.rql ìool ot utu8t;a,ra p:tq,i::,r st lt 'seq ãuo ãluo puv'tr ]E ìool ol tulq stup^\ aq. lycl

srq q8rlo.rqr ìool ol rrperr

Jrlt luE,t\ Ìcusãop ssnEJls-I^9-J 'UâÂJ pãtlsIJnoE 'lE pf,luloo

'prpunor8rroJ ârE srrl\ãp aqr (11a,u se sanbt7olor4l[1y pue

aEuanus egsuz1 aT ugrlletu rcqr roJ pue) sanbtdo,ta sa$x't'J uI'aÁa,(;e'tun ãqt ol tsEJI ]e 'algtst,rut sscl Jo JJotu IIE JJE sìJeru

qsnJq JLll 'slüJs uoll)nlÌsuof Jtll 's))t.\Jp )LII 'PUo^Jq

irrpc-r eqt ol,{\opult\ prsÁr:r e q8no:qr 3ur1oo1 sI euo leql

IXãI V NI CT'IìTO.4A:IHI

THE WORLD IN A TEXT

actualitv of it all: the mind sunk in materialities. Then, the

story goes, in "The Structural Studv of Myth" and in Totem-

isw,it bcgins to shakc frec of this social dross to get more cli-recdv at its proper subject, the fbrmal plav of the human in-

tellect. This approach is then codified, svstematized, andturned into a vcritable scicnce, like Marxism, geologt,, or

psvchoanalvsis,in La Pensée saupnge; after u'hich it is carriedto triumphant culmination in the great four-r'olume recordof the mind gamboling frcelv in the fields of its ou'n im-ager)', Mythologiques.

It r.vould takc us too far from our subject to trace outhere the dilüculties of this r..iew of Lér'i-Strauss's work as _de-scribing a rise from nature to culturc, bchavior to thought,matter to mind. It is actuallv plausible onh, so long as onedoesn't look too closelt, into chronologv or, even morc im-portantlr., into the intertextual relations that actuallv obtain,indepcndcntlv of scquence, aÌnong thc various r.r'orks. IesStrwctwres élétnentaire.i, r,vith its tracing of logical tran'sfor-mations across vast geographic spaces, stands in manl. 11'nvgcloser to Mtthologiques, t.rvo decades further on, than doesLa Pensée sí1u71&ge,rvitl'r its theoretical cavalr\, charge s, meth-odological set pieces, and Rfue Gauche quarrels, r.r'hich rvas

publishcd onlv a vcar or tu'o earlier than Mythologiques. Oneof his most recent books, La Voie des mnsques, a sort of tail-piece to the Ml,thologiques, v,as published rn rg,g but con-ceived in ry41 before his first one. La Vie fanoiliale et socialedes Ind.iens Nnrubihwara. And his u'hole argumcnt is, inbare-bones terms, alreadv there in the thirtt. pages or so of"The Structural Studv of Mrth," r.vritten in the rgjo's. Therest is an cnormous footnote.

Because the problems of Whiggism in connection withso.achronic a lr,ritcr as Lér,i-Strauss arc) once one gets dorvnto cases, so obvious (ercn his individual books do not march

3o

I'

ãtâldtuol) srrllto uI rSroÂ\ sI ]I '(ssâr8o.rd 3o çíu âql splo,\E

tr ìsrJI Ìe) lsrg ãtll ucqr s,(u,lt rtuos uI rrDãq sI lJ 'JâqlIã

q:uo.rdde slqr Jo sruelqo.rd âql otul 'e.raq 'o3 l.uorr I' san bt0o1oc1t[W u\ (caroa

-vz ol xv,trvuv) ursrprdopilur lueurlãlq8r1uE put (..elel

-LIE: s(tunssodo,, ,,'sãsuãs ãÀ$ Jqr lo en8ry âf11,, ..'eue s(JJlsJU

pJIq JI{I,, ,,'EpoJ,, ,,'JJnue,\o,,) ruslfllãqlsât jo a8uelatu e sI

rl prry a?aanas a?sua1 z7 ur (su,(uolrtu IEtuIue Pue lqunul

sautfaut) tst:ltsm8utl-q8rq pue lsIXlEW-sutJl sI 1I 'utsxxuâ7

-0J ul (,,rea ol poo8 utqr lâqttsr ìulq] or poo8,, 'p-r8ueqrsu8rs aqt qrr.m q8noqt) rslpuorr:ury qs{tlrg sI lI 'ìro^\ uelsv

tstãqtnos-utrltrtsnv ãrÌt uI (uetuo,t 1o srjr8 q8no.rqr 8ur

-ltlrun[rulor urru) uerssnew sI U 'suJn] uolluJlle Jo lJâtl,t\JrÌl se ,rlerer.rdo:ddt sUII{s tuerun8;e Jqr Jo JIrolãLIr ãqr puv'srnssr Jo rlnpãqls râzerJlrãllnw/seoã eqr':1.trs-:nJlollrq

'srlgruessear pue sâpueutsrp sanbt?olorpíyy 'Á:orsrq Jo !3pI

ãrlt prre ir8olotu:tsrde 'a.ruug tlttt\ sllll a?aanus a?sua1

IJ 7' ll -+o uoItEZIrEBint s.u,to;tl-JglllpeìÍ pue rusluultulãtpl-.rnq spu:dn MsxxuapJ ':lndsrpgo sIXE ãloq^\ aqr Surleldsrp

{s;:,ro:Ìuor drqsurl ìroprnry / u,\\or[-r1lllrpe1 / râurc6

rqt uo sã1Êt safialuau.r?l? sarnpnus sa7 'qted srq 3un1ro1q

sarSoloepr lIruJpEJE Jtll Jeqloue JJUE Juo sJJDefs 'asod;nd

Jo ãJns pLrE pultu ..;o pJXS 'ssnEJlS-t,\J1 '.i:ors stLìl uJ'lxJu âtll urql ':lu:o:r

ìrep slqr rs.rg dn 3urrq3r1'tq8qq:.reas Suttelo: a8nq e iql'reqs.

-e-r p:r8o1odo:qlut Jo uIEuIop Jãqtout Jo âuo uo ezeS ]sït

-JnllnJls'Sur8ueqrun'luelsuof, aql Sututt.tl qll.tr pâuJofuof,

Suraq '1.to,tt ql!ã uà\â:o'tr1o aseqd qrea {1:,rts-tnlai'1tads

ot os 'rt ãJs ot sl sILIJ 'Sutstuord a.roru eldoad 3o :aqunu e

ot plLrJrs s!q ìro,\\ slq or qruordde ;eqtoue'(8upoo:q pue

ãlorüJr 'suouelrpatu uEI^E JìII ruJql puno:e 'Suuenoq 'a1l-rrr tnq 'pue eql le Sutpua pue ãutrrut8eq cqr le SuluurSaq

'sqder8ouotu :ado.rd JìIT srJJíqns ;taqr q8no:ql,illeuolDerrp

IXgI V NI ('IÌO,T\ :IHJ

THE \VORLD IN A TEXT

stabilin'in the structuralist program fiom rq+q to t979 is, to

put it mildl,r', difficult to establish). The critical point is that,

as my failure to mcntion it in describing thcm suggcsts, both

approaches have diftìculn' accommodating Tristes Tropiques

at all. It seems like a n-rere sport, even an embarrassnìent: â

rcflcctive, rather pointless pause in thc long march torvard

intcllective purin. in the linear case; a mere personaÌ exprcs-

sion, an indulgence best overlooked, in the recursive onc. As

I have pronounced it the kev u'ork, the center around r.vhich

the u,hole pivots, I nccd to take a quite different tack.

To rn1'mind, Lévi-Strauss's work is organized ncither

linearl,r,. a progress of vieu's. nor quantumh', a series of dis-

continuous refbrmulations of a fuied and single vls11'; rathe r,

it is organized, if you u'ill, centrifugallr'. It is possible, I

think, and profitable as well, to look at all of Lér'i-Strauss's

urorks, except Tt'istes Ttopir\ues, even those r.vorks rvhich, in

publication terms anpva\,, predate it, as partial unpackings

of it, developments of particular strains prescntì embrr,oni-

callv at least and usuallr, much more fullv than that, in this,

the most multiplex of his r'vritings.Whetl'rer or not this cosmic cgg vierv of Tt'istes Tr"o-

pique s is the last word on iire subject is sure lv debatable; but

not, I should think, until it is first explored. Looking at

Tristes Tinpiques in text-building terms as the arch-text out

of whicl-r the other texts are, in a logical sense) generated-

Stevens's "parakect of parakeets that above the forest of par-

akeets prevails / a pip of life amid a mort of tails"-can lcad

one into a better grasp of Lér.i-Strauss's thought than can

seeing it either as an advancing series of etherealizing r.isions

or as a static and obsessive iterating thcme .

From this perspective the first thing to be said about

Tt istes Tt opiqwes, and in some wa\rs the last as u.'e ll, is that it

32

It

'r;-oli cld'(1196r' ssrtr{'.lipr:qrut3) t7ault'ua7 ut t1'ú5 ''pa

'ìoàqàS I Ln ,.'srnãoJ 1-rut srustnËut-1 :sÌuãLuãtclq 8rrrsot3,,'uosqolu{ 191

pue cpurqãq,(tu uo slloq ro31 iparuroddeslp (Pãllrxã (pâroq

'pezerut sp,\\ I lrtqr put Surqt e8ueJìs sltll /lrES I :a-t91q,

luâ,\\ J 'a.r;q lua,tr 1 'e:u:8 alqezruSo:a: ,i.ra'r E uI ìoog Iâ,\EJIe 'e8rssed Sutu:do snorutJ Jtll lo IEIUãP âÂIxãSãJ-JlJs pue

)ruoJr ãqr JrrcïsJp pue 'ãsJnof Jo (sI lI 'a:e1d rstg âqr uI

'Juo lE-+ sltll JPIS

-ur tno lã3 ot ãurleu8rs ,tpll^ sìooq ulqr Jql 'sluatuele luau-odruo:r Jr{l lE ìool or ,(;tssa:au sI lI r}sJIJ ':ert1 pernpo:d

sr ttrl,\\ ol ì)Eq f,tuol ltqs e,t 'y1e'n' ' ' etnpo-rd ol .rerlra8

-ol pauutÍ IIE Jfuo lE sìooq fE;ã,\JS :nuailaxxa ,rud txel p1o1

-rutlu e 'pt:cds ssal a8en8utl t LII pue ',i1pnstJ ãrol-u r1 1ndol 'sr 11 ,,',iutiuol:tu,, sILI (uollËulqruof llllelu,iS Jo JUo IelI-8rp cqr oluo .,'JoqdelãLu)) s,uosqole{'uortrutlsqns lIrEruS*IP

-e.red 3o stxt Sopue rq1 SulDrÍo.rd ,iq par:nrlsllor Sutueetu

:ueod tsIIErrIroJ tlrrzJ/utlssn-g p:rd,b-lerpl tIE v sanbxdlr.J

sa$pu u'ítr-ruprurs 3o rueld ãql prller eti req,u uo ilpttua.t

tr-ro pa,ield 'sllrJru3lã âlenulluor Jo ,iqt;etetq :rleu8rpe:ed t

utr1l rrtller ',btn8nuor -;o aueyd ãqt prlltr uosqolt{ uttuoì{

tcrl^\ Suole ,ilpluozr:oq rno paftld 'sluetuel: JtâlJsIpJo uoll

-:unÍuo: :u:r:tu,is r :.,rq8lot1]-JlãJruof,, jo aSeur adó5sop

-IJIEì s(ssnE.Ifs-I^?'I Jo 3n;olEuE lÌll1lJl\ E sI ìoog JtlI .-.-'1J.\JI JuIüs eqr te SutlsIXJ stxãl 8utt.t3:etut

,igenlnu sâulllJtuos ue,rl'Sutladuo:'3ut.r:n:r:o-oJ sl J^ELÌ

J,tr rEqIA 's:e,ie1 cqt ,(e,ue sdt-tls ruo se uoItEJlJLIad .radcap

Lrr stsrsuol uorlel:rd.r:tur lürlr os ïeqto Jtlt rllcâuJq uJp

-prq âuo aql 'srxer jo tucue8ue::e qtdap-ol-Jlr-]Jns 'pltq:-JElJrq E lou sI sanbdo"[ s21s!.L uI J,\EI-{ â;\\ }Et{,^r\ loc 'plo,\\

lq8r-r rqr ,ip:rr:xa rou 'JJ J,lroll 'sl ..pâsodLuuãdns,,'tJro[u E JìII Jãtll!J 'uJârlld

IIE'.{r,\o ue lno 8ur:q or rrqlo rLIt uodn auo pesoduuadns

stxâl -]o stJos tuãJâ-+Itp :rrnb flr:,\âs 'Jflto te sìooq p.ráÀes sì

IX:IJ Y NI C'IìTO. ô, gHI

:I

THE WORLD IN A TEXT

onceì in the Amazon . . . -all rvith the implicit undermcs-

sage: Don't vou wish vou had been there with me or could

do tl-re samef

An invitation to dreams of adventure and escape, and

even a dream itsclf-. Hc can bc as superior as he rvants to be

about lantern-slide lcctures, stories about the ship's dog, or

descriptions of seagulls srvirling about; but just listen to him

on Fort de Francc:

When the clocks struck tr.r'o in the afìernoon Fort de France u'as a

dcad tou,n. There u'as no sign of life in thc oval-bordered "main

square," q'hich u,as planted u'ith paìm-trees ancl overrun u'itÌr ram-

pant weeds-a patch of dead ground, onc u'ould have thought, in

u'hich somcone left behind a statuc of fosephine Tâscl-rcr de la

Pagerie, later Bcauhan-rais. f'fhat is Napolcon's iosephine. of

cor.rrsc.] No sooner had thc Tünisian ancl I checkecl into thc c'le-

sertecl hotel than, still shaken bv thc c\rents of thc morning, lve

l-rired a car and set off totvard thc Lazaret. n'ith the intcntion of

comfbrting our companions attd, more especialll,. t\\'o voung Ger-man \rronlen whcl iracÌ ìec-l us to bclieve, during the \o\rage out, that

thev q.ould be unfaithful to their*husbands just as soon as thev

cor.rld get properlv cieaned up. From this point of vicu', the busi-rress of the Lazaret \vas vct another disappointment to us.'

Which is both crude enoueh and suffìcicntlv arch for anv

Ìantcrn lecture.

Or hear him, evcn, much further onì approacÌr the

Tlrpi- Karvahib across the mid-Amazon plateau :

I had left Cuiba in lune, and it r'r.as nou' September. For threemonths I had rvandered across thc Plateau, camping rvith the In-

clians r'r.hile mv animals had a rest, or pushing on interminablv

sC. Lór'i-Strauss, A World on the Wane, John Russell, trans. (Neu' \brk.r9ór). p. tr. Althor.rgh Lér'i-Strauss preÍèrs the \\'eightmans'translation (Tì'iste s Tro'piques,Jc:hn and L)oreer-r Weightrnan. trans. lHarmonclsu'orth, tsng., rgrol),1n{ i1is some$'hat morc accuratcl I \\ ilÌ f'or the most ;ra.rt use the Russe ll, becausc it seemsto mc to bring the tone of the Frcnch better into EngÌish. In anv case, I shall alscrgive at each citation both the \Veightman refèrence (herc, p. 12,) and that in tlrecrriginal \'[/utesTropìques [Paris. rgis], here, p. r7).

1Á

s!

'(rit d 'lPUItuo i6I't''cl'utrulqBlrÁ\) trl cì '11:'sngo

-pE J3,\ãr.r PIlo,!\ (euo illt.rarll lou (Jfloqtr u,\\o slq ,(q 'sanbtd

-L,tJ sa$LLJ Lrr lno slulod ,iilrya:t:r ,(:a,r aq sc rse,u Jq q8noql

uJÊ) r,tzqaut/L|u )rssETJ lsolulE slqr lErlr-PJOÂ\ Jt{l JO JsUãs

'snorluapuãl âql lou 'loo: rql uI Jeãln,\-ssãusnollsuoJ PII

-os Jo ad,t e ol lunotJE sltl slJJuuof, 1I pue 'ìooq ãql sJ,\Eãl

JJ^)u tyz$a,tllut ilqu:rLl ]ng lãsâq ,t1a.los 'lJl).\trl 'ip:eqJrÌÌ io e8eut 3LÌl 'sÌJpoLrJ Jtll JJ,\âlEtl'!\ 'f,sc-'t ,itre u1

'8ur1ea,ru,i1aua.rtxt ãq PFÌor'8utlrold-xJ rrà\J pue 'SuDcuJEluIJ.l i1tru:e q8noqr'lsuru8e 8uB:e

-e-r ,(lpesoddns st,r oq âJnrErâlII Iã,\EJI tltuJJJ Jt{1 t{1IÂ\ sanbtd

-ttJ salsx.,u rfãuuol ttt lcÌtueltc tltturâlS,is V 'ãJJrl ãurrdope

sr ssnt.ns-I^91 'a1'hs JLII put ':pnltlle ãqlJo srdÍroro-rd :qr

ru:ras 'rseqd LIJãrsEã :c1-1e:rrSoloJetlfJe sltl uI ]scãl lE 'xnEJ

-lEW .Jrplry st a:n8g ulJepuetu lISsÌllJ E q:ns LIâ,\ã Jo (IloT

JJJãrd jo sen8ole,wl frluculol peu ,i1:su:lul Jtll 'o0uo2 nu

seliuioç s(JplD :8utqt1o uos slqt qll\\ p3ìrutrDI:od se,t arnl

-p-r:r :rlndod uorlust'ru71nt zinaq:llqnde1 prltlJ eq1 'artr:d

-o.rclde JJotu Jq ppoÀt reqr slqr JoJ sluJJâJJJ r{fuJJJ âlE âJâql

',i1pnl:y 'ruol -Ìo uoS rluârÂ\t-I 'ã I / uolJtìfl preqlry

srql u!qr 'JsJO'tt :o '.t:ttlq .rq ,i1p;rqplnol ((EJIJfV rsJìJEC

LII sJcãÀ or\[,, Jo ((SJâ]ulltlpE3H âtll õUoury UI-I'\W"

e'Jãpulr E ol ltlJnq rg ol !rre1 Jo leLIOos 'SrrtqrÁrara

..1o .iurrs;rp ãqr st.\\ ll àlJLl \\ .i-tolt.t.t:t E Jo uollEttltulnl JLII .i1:-reu

pãIIJãâs 'ieqt'selg-qsnq Jo sUIEuIrr pâLIâìlEIq ãql roJ sE puv 'dllrEl

ìrnrts ,iqarty pttl âuoãuros erJq.t\ lrtld aqr pJìlttu ttqt sdunrs

prãp ãrÌt Luo{ pãqsm8uustp aq Ílotrers ppol srueld 8ur,rq reqr

,rrp os puE[ E-ãru J]oJãq llortll-t ppo,\\ I-ÌEuuE,\Es ãJ':)lsnt âures cql

prrâ uo sìãã,\\ JoJ 'ãrnluâ^pB Jo putq .recldn aqr lo3 ruopo-log '8ut

-uroru lxâu âql Jrãq] ]ou ãrãÂ\ ^eLIl

JI tuãql ssllu uâ.\ã plnotls I puE

iruoteut ,itu 3o ued tuautu:ed E âlâ,r ,ieqr 8uqoe3 ,iq cÌn pepua 1leql 1ÈITIurr.J os le,i put 'lgured,ilsnono-rtt os saltld eros aru a're8

cpru ãtÌl Jo uorlour ,i>paÍ aqr JIIq,'!\uEeW 'puâ ãql ur ol dn ppe IIEplnoÀ\ 1r IELI,\\ ãllq^\ rLIt Jlos,(u 8uryse 'lxau aql ol ]urod ãuo uro{

IXgI Y NI (I'IUO.{\ !IHI

THE w'ORLD IN A TEXT

mit to and indeed has spent much of his career distancinghimsclf from.

Second, the book is, hor,r'er,er oddlv looking a oneì an

9t!_l5rgraphr'. A contror,crsial ethnograpl-rv perhaps, andmore than a bit ovcr-focusecl; but the a1Ììrmed and er{Ììrrned

posc of thc ethnographcr, likc the disclain-red anci ciisclaimed

one of the tourist. nel'er leaves the book. Incleecl it ofìen be-

comcs, in its shrill insistcncc, a bit thick:

An antinom,v, therefore. n'hich u'e have as a profcssion on the onchancl. and on thc other an arnbiguor.rs cntcrprise. oscillating bc-tween a mission ancl a refugc. ircaring u'ithiu itself elemcnts ofboth and r.ct alr.vavs recognizablr,one rather than the othcr. An-thropologv has in all this an especiallr.Íàr'ored place. It representsthe second trlternative fthat is. the "refuge"] in irs nlost ertrcmeform. Thc cthr-rographcr, u'hilc in no u.ise abdicating his ou'n hu-manitl., strives to krou' and estimate his fellou'mar.r fiom a loftvand distant point ofvantagc: onlv thus can he abstract thcm fiomthe contingcncies par-ticular to this or that civilization. The con-ditions of his lifè irnd u'ork cut him off frorn his ou'n group forlor-rg periods togetl-ìer; and he himself acquires a kind of chronicuprootedness fiom the sheer brutalifl, of the environmental.À.ng., to rvhich he is exl-rosed. Ncvci cau hc fccl himself "athomc" anr.rvhcrc: hc u'ill ahvays be, psr.chologicallr.speaking, anamputated man. Anthropolop,is, n'ith music and mathcmatics,onc of the fè\\'true vocatiorls: and the anthropologist mav becomeau,arc of it befòre ever he has bccn taught it.

-'

The anthropologist, as here, r'enturing u'hcre lesser

souls-his cafe intellectual friends in Paris; the orchid-elite

of French-Quarter São Paolo; his shallolr', noveltt-pursuing

Brazilian students; and vou, dcar chemist, philosopher, or

art historian, enfoÌdcd in t'our laboraton', stucl\', or mu-

seum-dare not go) ancl pcnetrating forms of existencc thcv

can onh' read about: this note too runs continuoush.

:Russel l , p. i8 (Weightman. pp. óó-ó7t or ig inel . pp.4ó-+1).

36

LZ

-Jo ìsorr.Jr rrr.\r (Llràúogrrorcl e sI rI sp Ìrtutur.Ìs " ur".., ,, ii ]i:t],t::ï:]:ffltiil1:Ïi

ì1rrq.rr ruo:1 s:Stssecl 'z'l'ór se i1:tr sc paqstlqnd :^:;ded uo spllnq uotltlnrul14 s:tnbtI

-oq sJlsltJ, ãrlr 'scãpr s(ssnerrs-L\l'I .1o tu:rudo1.r,rrp eqt or opln8 c st Surpealsruãq LÌpr uouplqqnd 3o ,Sopuo:q:r teqt ìurun8:c .(ru qtt.t autl ut ',igerulyg

-ãp tEtll ol snoSolEuE sluãtuãlr IEIILuâqrJoüÈq5 p:rrpolred-1o uoìe l-{r^IlclE}sã ,\fllll}llrÁã pÌl1o] ouo sltll IIE t{ll^\ 'lunollE olul LIãìPIãq osF plnoqs 'ì]rs .ro .iqrpaq rrqrãq.\\ 'stEúiiÌpÜ 3o sureJípãrÌJ 'sãruEã rleql LII sdn-u,ncu8 puE uãJplll.{J qroq iq pâìo ul

sluolsr-Ì:) :)qr ',i-ãoloqr,'(tu ul pâJnf]ÉIuolsnl eql.(sràtllo Jo ilasruo

^q po.\ÍâsqoIIJãq ã,\tq qfrq,!\ sLuolsnr âqr IIE Jo ,\rolLIe'\LII uE JìEuI

tsllru ãuo srql roc ;ãjnrÍlslrorãr ot Jlqrssod ãq pÏnotls rI qllq'r $ãiÌ

3o,irouada; e uro{ suoIlELIIqtúoJ uÍEurr-ãSÓõqr ot sI op uP.ì ,iJql

IIÊ :úrinpsqÍl âIEJI] râ,\rLI (uolsrlÌãp Jo stuãruolu uÌ ro csLuEâJp

rrâr{1 Lrr ',fu1d ru) s8uraq Lreurnq reql puE pâ}llulryn n]"_::jgttâSeql -to

Jâqunu âq] fEql pâlul\uol uIP I 'SLlJJlS,\s olul tuJo-] r\e{lial,irs leprrrrtd sÌI s,it,n1e sELI sluolsnr s.âldoJd t lo âlqruãsuJ oql

8:sznbxd-q,tJ szlsx,LJ uI ol âlge sE,{\ Jq sE llJtlslnu E l8âu os uI tusl

-lErnlrnrts s-lElrdEl lnd or rlqE uã3q rãÂJU sEtl ssnerls-I^9'J

lng 'JUo JâJEãI) e xusxruzoJJo JãldELIl tlunoJ 3tÌl pue (ãuo

lDEtuetsÁs JJo{-u E ..t{I,itr^ü -}o dpruS ÌEJnllnJlS ât{J,,

(sluâlu

-rtels lryJâ,\\od a;ou sdeq:ed ãrÊ sanbxlÌTl\qtiw ol ((EPor),Jr{} puE ((âJnuJ o,, JrlJ .('sr.uâts,(s otnr rulof íJqr :Jldls

JEInlruEd str siE,\\lE sËq sl.Uolsnr s.eldocd E Jo slqu3suJ

Jqt,, ',(lâLuEU :Jrurs os Jo,irntu3l Jãutnb ãql Jo-I pansJnd seq

ssnpJls-L\?-J rEql rJEJ ur srsâql Jql (slsâql E sEq lxâ] JIqdEJS

-ouqlâ âql !âqlou! JâuE Surqr utuep ãuo (âlnlEu ,rq l.re

stxJl qJns sE csr r-ÌJrrl,!\ 'Jâ,râ,!\oq 'lxal 1a,reJ] Jq] âìIIurÌ

,,',tqdosolrqd

IJr8doqs,, Jo llq E sv'sanbxdl"tJ szls!.'IJ uI sâop Jq sE c,itlJoqlnc

prlurr.lacÌxa slr ,(uãP plno,t\ oq,{\ pue ).loru pfa$ qlnru lBtll

IIr JLrop lorr sErl oq^\ ãuoârLros ur q8noua ,(1ruu:gru8ls (âlâtl

srsosrltodr slr spug pãrurEllord pEJtr{ pue PrpunoJ rìs,{\ou

-rlEW lrqt ìro,r\ PIãg Jo ãnblrs,itu rqJ 'ìooq rql qSnorqr

IXgI Y NI (I'IUO,E\ ãHI

THE WORLD IN A TEXT

vised br, Mendelier. In this. all customs. u'hether real or merel\'

possiblc. rrould be grouped bv tamilies antl all that rroulcl rcntrinfor us to do would be to recognize those rvhich societies had, in

point of fact, adopted.n

Jhird, besides a travelogue and an ethnographr', the

book is a philosophical text. It is a philosophical text not

simply in thc rnan-in-the-street sense that it is flambor'-

antly reflective-the mute-exchanges-of -forgivencss-r'r'ith-a-

cat sort of thing-and full of dark savings-"Manism and

Buddhism are doing the samc thing, but at different levels."

It is a philosophical text in the scholarlr. sense that it ad-

clresses itseÌf, and rvith some resolutcnessì to a central issue

in Western thought: the natural fbundations of human so-

ciet,v. Not onlv does Lér'i-Strauss hope to find Rousseau's

Social Contract alive and rvell in deepest {mx7sn-xncl ss

countcr such theories of the origins of socialin' as Freud's

primal parricide or FIume's corl\/entionali0'-but he tl'rinks

that, among the Nambiku'ara, he has actualh'and litcraÌlv

done so:

The evide nce of the Nambikrvara runsì to begin rvith, clean coun-ter to the ancient sociological thcor\,. no\\r temporarilv resr,rrrectedb,v thc psvchoanalvsts, according to rvhich the primitive chicf de-rives from a svmbolic fathcr. . . . I should like to bc able to shou'horv markedll,, in this regard, contemporarv anthropologl' sup-

pofts the thesis of the eightccnth centurv philosophes. DoubtlessRousseau's schema diffcrs fìom the quasi-contractual relationsrvhich obtain bctrveen the chief and his compauions. Rousseauhad in mind a quitc different phenomenon-the renunciation bt'the indivicÌual of his o\vn autonoffÌy in the interests of thc collec-tive rvill. It is nonetheless true. hou'er,er, that Rousseau and hiscontcmporaries displaved profclund sociological intuition u'henthet, realized that attitudcs and elements of culture such as aresummed up in the words "contract" and "conscnt" are not second-

eRussell, p. roo (WeightmaÌr, p. 229i originaÌ, p. r83).

38

ót

'(tr! d'prrr8r:o i!r! cl 'unutqãrãM) oó! d'11:rs'^n11rt'ót-çtt dd '(!rór 'ïo1 .\\âN) rr.r,7llil:) {o uÌqautd.taiu[ lqJ'z7DãJ

'3 ur ..l8e,rcg JúlqãrãJ eq"1,. 'zu:r:rg .) :as ',i1p:rue8 ìro.r s!ssnerr\^-1.\?'I uI Julãtìlsrql Lrorronrroa (9!t cl'pur8r:o ifr !l! dd'rrnutq8rarll) go! d'glssnyu,

-d"llp rr.lrJO suoudrrlsrp âqI'snoueJ âre sâStssed JqJ'lEruã3 ,tla,tnrsod

pLrnos LrouEc zuErc sâìËlrl )H's|nbxdl,í.J s21s!.,[ sçssnEJls-I,\t'I Jo râ,!\od pLrE ssJuJJllrq SuDElsE^ãp Jrll qlr,!\ csJoLIlnE

JrJrll IEfrpEJ ,\\orl JJuEr.u ou i!\$ JJE JJJrll lng 'rsâM-Uou ãqlr.ro tJBdlUr str roJ tsq\A Jrl] Jo ,\\ou ,iq slu:uDJlpul Jo JJqunLIsnor-uJorrã uE uJJq sEq JJJr.lJ 'l:)EJ] lsluJoJJJ e :sr sznbxdI"tJsL1s!,tJ lxJl -+o rros r{üfr6J eql o1 spEâl (urnt ur (srqr puv

.ã^II

urJ uEuJ rplr{,\\ ur (s^ES ssl-ÌEJls-L\?'I 'âuo ':Jp;o lErlos IEuoIl-EJ E (3rurJ pr.re Jreds puo,iJq IEJpr uE Jo srstq âql uo 'pllnqprrE uÂ\o Jno ruo4 sà\lâsJno qlErãp ueJ J,\\ 'slrlrr:ros ::t11o8ur,trou1 r\{ ,,'IESJOÂrur'Ì pu! IELrJâlâ sr Iãpou s(neJssnoìJSnEJeg lJulsuolâJ uts-ì J,!\ qllq,\\ puE 'l)nJlsuofãJ ol ,{\otlpããu ãÂ\ q)lq,r\ 'p1.ro,n rEql qJI JJ,\ârr pErÌ J,\\ rã]]âg '(,,a,tdod

,Ln\raa Jno ,iq pafduo-rd âJE ãÂ\ rlJFI,t\ ol Ítt,rEre 8ut-tsânb Jqr pue JIEIS )\rtrur:d aqr Jo âluâlopur Jrlt ueJ.{\lJgpunor8 JIpplLU eqt,,) ..:rdo.rd ;noue ârlou âp ?lr^rlJe tuul-nt9d EI tâ JIlIturJd let-J(p eJuJlopul.l JJ]LTJ rìJrlnu âtsní un,,'neassnoll tuo;3 SuDonb 'sE frrltrloJu Jr.{l IIEI ,ltou ppo,r\â.{\ leq.{\ sââs qlrLl,!\ 'lJporu Jluasstuu ?12x30s s(nEâssnoì;brpqer:edser ol ìreq 8ur:q or S]rr!Â\ c11 '(pc.rors ãrE EuTLLI-noN s(luu) JO sEJpJ s.oreld )JJrl,\\ ,irluno: Jqt pãJâ^oJsIpseq âuo 8ur^us ãìI rlq E irurelr e) oatt ux t)enuoJ I!IJOS Jqrpuno-+ sEL{ ãq rtqt ìuLIr ,(1::ru tou sJop ssnerts-r^?-J

o,'luasa.rd lou oJEÍaqr qrrq.u ur uorlezrur8ro Itnos Jo ruroJ E aur8rrur ol elqrssodursr tr puc 'e-;q pnos Jo slerrJttru 'i.rtruud Jql ere ,iaqt :peuretuteru(.reprrurd ur orunH pue) seues-re,\pr Jrâr-lt sE 'suorteurr<r3 ,irr

IXgI V NI A'Iì{O.AA:THI

I

THE .wORLD

IN A TEXT

iclatecl "forrner sat'agcs" spoiling the I'icu' arouncÌ São PaoÌo;

thc diatribes about enÌPtv beer bottlcs ancl c-liscarded tin

cans; and the itttcnse hatred for inclustrial cii'ilization that

keeps breaking through: it is umeccssarv to rcquotc tlÌem

here. Wrat necds to be uotecl is that thet'conncct u'ith a dis-

tinctive strand in ninetcenth- and carh' t\\'entieth-cetrtun'

reformist tl-rought-thc one perhaps bcst representcd in

France br, Flaubert. in Gertnan)'b)'Nietzsche. ancl bv Ar-

nold or Ruskin or Pater in Er-rgland; olÌe that rcactcd to

much of modcrn lifc lr'ith an cssentiallv acsthetic rcPug-

nance raisecl, or an\\\'av transportcd, to a lnoral level. Dis-

taste trarÌsmogriÍìed.

Just to shor'r' rhat this is a gcneral themc in Lór'i-

Strauss, let mc quote fiom l-ris comn-ìel-Ìts or-r Thircl-\lbrlcÌ

cities, describing thcm as a u'holc. (Thc passage. revarllpcd

and back-translatcd for Indian citics exprcttll', is in fact in-

cludcd in Tt istes Tropìques- tl-rough it is onc of the scctions

omitted in thc Russcll translation): "Filth, pronriscr'ritr'. clis-

orcler, phvsical contact; ruins, shacks, cxcrements, mucì;

boclr, moisture, animal droppings, urinc, puruÌcncc, sccre-

tions, suppuration-çv's11thing tlÌat IEuropean] urban lifè

is organized to defèr-rd us against, evervthing \\'e loathe,

cr,erything \\'e protect oursclves fìon-r at great cost-all thcse

$1'-products of co-habitation net'er herc lin the Third

World] imposc a lirnit on lurban life's] spread. On thc con-

trar\', thcsc constitute thc natural setting the tou'n must Ìrave

if it is to sun'ivc."12And the crimc. of'course, is that it is u'e u'ho havc

done this, u'hcther out of grecd and pétulnnte actittité or

mcrc fits of absentmindedr-rcss and callousncs5-11's 11'ho

lrave throu,n, as he sâ1's to-"tt'herc in Trìstes Tropiques, our

Ì2I have beer.r unable to rccover the l-ér'i-Strauss Pàssegc in English lt ap-

pears in \Veightman at P. Ió8; in thc origìnal at P. Il2.

40

It

,\ta.!)tt'l ptru sÍtrt.ttç.r.r,r :Mrlru.rtt,t.!ts 0t ,tstrqut.\s;;Ï, ti,lì'.ì|lit:t!t!PatL

:ryqesnedsrpnr r\\olr Sr lãrlros wtp lsagaí01 sep urtuls s(pnrqrulì Jo,ie s ot pe.rup e,rrq rldoecì st 'uotlergtrs,itu go tu:xut-redap t -ro lurÉs.teod c lou sr lros slqtJo saruapuocìsarrol ro,] LÌlruãs eq; 'tq8re.t

-rroqt s8uqaa-; prÌE srlolol rrãrll r,\Ìlq slllârs pue spLlnos st lsnf 31as-lr ot rerlnlrd sJnlt,\ spq;rrecìg 'srutlt.iq:1t.rnteu sll Jo àJÌìtfr-ÌJls stlJJLIIJ ulo{ ,il.rrayduro: sJ,\lãsJlÌo- elr:cltruerua ol ;e,.'rod Jno utqtl\\

lou sr lI lcrll rzIIEãJ pLIE )luJlJâclxã uÌltutÌtÌ lno JO suolllpuoJ enJlrrlt tdJDE ()l rrD)q op pÌnoqs ã \ 'suollElllrl pUE s{+nqlr ãlqtletu-nuur JO lsol ãql lE lo-t ã,\rJls â,\\ qJIrì,\\ pultu -to o:)ÌlJcl E ol ,\lIsEãprru ,i1pmb pJUrEt]Ì saydoed ã.\rlru.rrr(Ì 'ru:rqt tsurc8e o3 ol qst.trrJJporu ,ìr-ìo ur JãqlEJ sJrT ssãLrpELU :ql lerrl:trd olttt ,i1sno:ttttlntrr-rs lnd slldold :r,rttttuucJ qlLI,\\ tuopsl^\ -+o urro,J t st fuo os put'sLurJt a,rrtrlrpnb ur âurrl pur oeds rrs or] suortralrpc.td Jsãtll oJS I

:llJ,!\ sE rroI]EISrrtJl 3.\I.ulls ol slulod snollE,\ lP

q8nouJ :rteqdue sr tr lng 'ssJrrpãrqâpul ãql sJoJJItu qfns sE

aso.rd .lqt âJârl,!\ 'lxat q:ue;g Jrlt ut Jãs ol JJIsìlJ sI sltlJ'EfrJJury qlnoç

rrr gr.uJrllttr ü :J.tnllnl e,rrtrurucJ ol s,\\JL\ a$qlqruís Jo uoll

-errlddc ue ,,'(,i1p:ru:r8 1.ro,t scssnEJrS-I^J'I ut ol sn pJttâlt

setl'tustlutnpnrqs 01. run1oquíg uto,tg',tprtts pena18:lu stq ur

'Uoog srurc{ r:rr:-; r) txal ,(:u:el{ rsrloqu'is -+o pulì e lgart-l.t

-qllrp arrnb pur 'st. sanbtdo,ta si$!4L',ipuy puc (qUIJ . ..-

i\JOS

-Lrãs sr r1 'plrrlod lou sr LUSrlElrpEr srfi 'p:r8o1olq rqr pue

p:rs,iqd Jq] qtr,\\ rsn8srp -rrd:rap LrJ,\J uE Jo lÌto JsIJ ol sLUâãs

tsn8srp pnos daap slssnErrS-r,\t-I 's.Ul,KS rìIl 'âlueu8nde:

lnãrllsJt -]o ueqr-papr:8ep r-rr ,iaql retlr uttll pâ]Eulruop:.re aydoed IELII pJrJJo,r\ JJoru Jeqlúl sI oq,\\ '3JIJES rrlo4 rulq

srpr,\rp rtrlr s8urql rqt fo ãuo sI q:tq,u-a8er alsxp,tlru +osscl 'ls.rnqtno uE sr sanbdo4 sais!.,ú (l)EJl rsItuJoJJJ E sV

'sJno ur ìreq tr ,r\oJr-ll o1 spãâ:)

-o;d ,tou {:rf!lt 'p1.ro,tr âql Jo tsJJ ãr{l -}o sârEJ Jqr uI qrlg

IXSI Y NI CI-ÌXOA\ AHI

THE WORLD IN A TEXT

to tl-ìe stuclent of languagc \r.'ho knou's the basis, not of the colour

of nhenomena. for this varies u'ith each individual. but of thc re-

lation rvhich unites one phenomenon to another anc-l compriscs a

limitecl gamut of possi6ilities. These correspondences o1Ìèr the

scholar ú entirelr. ne* tcrrain, and one *,hich mar.still l-ra'e ricl'r

vielcls to offer. If fish can make an aesrheric distinctior] bet$..cen

smells in rcrms of light and dark. and bces classifY the strcngth of

light in tcrms of *'eight-clarkness is hearl to them, and bright

tlght ügnt-just so sliould the u'ork of the painter, the poct. and

the composer and the mvths and svmbols of prirnitive Mtrr-r appear

to us: if not as a superior fbrm of krou'ledgc' rìt xll\' rate iÌs thr'

most fundamental fbrm of knou'lcdge, anc-l thc onh'onc that rve all

have in cotnmon.Ìa

And he continues in the same vein. one u'hich by M!'

thologiqwes ivill be a major theme . "Cities have ofìcn been

likened to svmphonics and Poems; anci this comparison

seems to me a perfèctlv natlÌral onc: thet'are in fact objects

of the same natllre . . . somcthing livcd and somcthing

clreamed."'s (Apparentlv these are different cities than the

pestilcnt oncs \\/c just sar.r'. furd, in fìct, this bit of lvricism is

follorved bt, a criticism of' Braziliar-r to\\'ns) this time fbr

being the results of "dccisions of . . . cngineers and finan-

ciers" rather than spontaneous grou'ths, like poems or s\rm-

phonies-unmelodic. ctut of tuner so to speak: n-rcchanical

cacophonies procluced bt' tonc-clcaf "moderns.")

Tl'rat Lér'i-StralÌss is concerncd to Place himself ancl his

text in drê litcrarv tradition cstablished bv Baudelairc. Mal-

larmé, fumbaud, and-though, as far as I can cliscover. he

ncver nìentions him tn Tt' ist e s Trop i qu e s-espcciallv.-P. roustr

is clear from the r.vav he u'rites, from ivhat he rvritcs' and

fiorn rvÌrat he savs he is concernecl to do: decode, and, in de-

coding, recover thc por.ver to use the scnsuous imagcr,v of

neolithic thought. Tt'istes Tropiques is, in one dimension, a

r+Russell. pp. 126-27 (\\'eightman, pp U3-.s+ì original. p. rzr).ÌsRusscll, p. rz7 (\\'eightnlan, p. I5+; original' p. Izz).

Á1

tt

'(rt ;t 'dd'1:ur8uo iqs-st dd'ururq8rarll) ot-óJ''dd lllrssrlìer

-ut ,iilor{,r JrJrÌt âter}âuad or ãur>1eas pue (e-re.n>lrqueN 'oâ \-npE)'o:o:og) sãIlr[EluJru ]s{oqr.u,is Jãrllo 8uuâlunofuJ(t1:u:;g) ilqtluau rsr1oqr.uÁs E Jo prorrr E sr ìooq ãqJ

r,\E r[ ã s r,,rLr ã q ] ( ) p r Ììo,!\ Lr r r LrÁ\ su oz t. u r", d, ";.1

;ìïi"*iillrlïÏ".:sn roJ ãlqrssod lr aleur ãuolE trr{t s8urqr ãql ãrE qrns-8ur,n eql uolLISrìEr suoltfâUâr '$ll .Jo slrpltsus .t:cln:ruroru ':rderspurl 3o sluaur-3er3 arutqr :art-Jns âql qleou3q 3ur33rp3o se puno.rã 8ur-ra.tor-1olrlleul f, tì.tnut ()s tou st uotte;o1dxE '.i1.ru:1: âttln11;loJ or:1qc rr.i]olr sE,{\ i Llrlq,r uossâl lr1oqru,is e 'aq ,ietu lr 'tr qtr.rt tq8no.rg tuersrqa 'errlrercì olur lnd ot lru Suur,rur ,ipr:l.rp sdrqrad sE,\\ tuâlsSuru.rnq Jo Llorlou pro.r.rnba ãqt Llrrrl,\\ uortrllrtsrp pãteuolÌrer,Jput tuerted lrql sE uorte,\râsqo ,rep-oi-,iep ot rpÌÌru os pyari tousãop LrorttÌltrs uarr8 ,iue 3o !ln:1 3111 lerlt lureel r.rtq 1 ',iru-rrrqrr osuaas.ra8tiol ou sa8eurr cseqt'ueqt uo ìJEq ìool I reqt,roN

'tua:s Sulurnq Jo sr.urJt ur lrzerg.1o Surlurqr prsLuoJ-+ âLu lua,ra;cl LrEl ' ' ' JrLrcl:Jdxa ;JIEI

-+o luno[ue o1q '(.,a1zzts,, ),talpsg,tlÌpue (..1rze.rg,,) lxsr,íg spto,\\ eql uoJ,!\tJq etutrrosst ãql Joss)uJlu.\\r slìol.ìsUo-ì(rn uE ol 'ìt.ilrll J 'J.\\o J ilcl;rp .i.ror:u.lJlo rrllrlsnÌI 'rtunJr:>d Sururnq Jo rsuâs Surleau,red-lle uE prrt 'aruelsrpãlpp1u Jqt Lrr JJntrãtrqr;r aSue-us.]o sãsdur18 qrr'n 'sareal-urJecl

Jo ssrtu palSrrcr r sE lrzerg peurãerur I 'lJtlertr{r prrdol slt 3o' ' ' rlrtou JtÌrpJturur arr8 pur trrãrâJrp Ílarolduor eq tsnu 'sse;8

Jo opìrlq ,i-ro,rc 'aa.rl ,i;e,re 'leurrur ,i.ra,rg 'aqo1ã ãqt Jo sãpIS qloquo a:uutaddt oults Jrlt r.\Erl plnor 'elqela8a,r .ro lturruc reqtãq.\\'saneds '(ue teqt pres lr reãrÌ ot prllsruotsr uãâq e,\eq pporls J'uolJE,\rJJp lEJJtrl slr rreql snonu:lãur eJouJ pue rJL1Ju eruo re asuJse our ro-I seq sapodrtur âq]

-+o.oureu ãqr pue 'u,tro rno ;o arrsoddoìfEXe Jrlt oq lsnru'âru oJ pJrurJS ]r sr'sar;tunor prrdo-r1 'foraqr

oF cq reqr 'sl reqrl uortsa88ns palredxaun srql ot esuodse.r ur'pnrtu itu ur pâLruoJ sa8rur aql 'lretap

^JJjã ur 'las lpls uel I lng

'3rurÌ JLI] lE ãUr ot qlnuj luBãru EfrrJruv qlnos Jou IrzEJg rãrltrJN

:uozEury 3q1 fo SLferruEÂES pue slsã

-ro-+ rql ul Áu1d lE (strl

JlãsrurrÌ âq rnq sutrpul srq lsnÍ lou leqr

slsrsur ssnerts-r^g'I rÌllq,\\ i{rrpruatu rsrloqr,ur(s r -1o p.ro5ã-r

IXgI V NI (TÌO. À :IHI

THE w'ORLD IN A TEXT

terior coherencc in orcìer to find in them thc replication of

itself-"the most fundamcntal forl-Ì-Ì" of thought'

As I sa1', onh' evcn lnore extendecl quotation cor-rld

bring this ftlllv out: the stress on the affinitt'of mcmorri mu-

sic, poetrr,, mvth, and clream; the notion of a universal sau-

,og, ,rr'rrr-languagc, half buricd in each Person (ar-rd more

deeplv burieci iu us, rvho havc lcft tbe société naissnnte . than

in prin-ritives); and thc closccl-*'orld 'ieu'

of meaning that

rcsults from it a\l. Tt'ìstes Ti'opiqwes is Lér'i-Stratss's A la re-

cherche rí.u temps perdu and (Jn coup ríe tíés. and insists ou

being reacì as such, as part of the sr,mbolist cÍÌ-ort to orchcs-

trate immediate images into absolute signs-somcthing

),our stanclarcl. avcragc British or American anthroPologist

is not particularlt'r"ell cquippccl, ancl certainlv not inclincd'

to do.

So: A travel booki c\ren a tourist guidc. if, like thc trop-

ics. ont of date. An ethnographic report' fìrunding vet one

more scrcluzã' nulrã. A phiÌosophical discoursc. attcmPting

to rehabilitate Rousscau, the Social Contract, and thc vir-

rues of the unpetulant lifè. A rcÍ-ormist tract, attacking Eu-

ropcan expansionism on aesthctic grounds' And a literarv

r árk, exemplif ing ar-rd fonvarding a literarv causc ' ' ' AÌl

of these set ncxt to one another' juxtaposed likc prctures

fiom an exhibition, producing in thcir interaction prrecisclv

u'hatì What is thc moiré that emergesì

To -y

mind u'hat emcrges' not altogether surprisinglv

I suppose , it n tr-r.'ú. iiThe encompassing form of thc book

that all thiísr,ntactic, metonvmic jostling of text-tvpcs Pro-

duces is alQgest Stor\': thc departure fiom familiar' boring'

ocicllr. túeatening shores; the journcr', rvith ad'entures. into

Ì;Again, I heve deYeloped this point more fullY ir-r "Tl-re ccrebral savage."

ancl so merelv reasscrt it here.

++

)7

Jql Ápnls JIãLI] pue 'NrTta; Jo suorssJJdxa t:a;rp tsoru JrllsE sfrteruâqtuut pue 'Jrsnlu 'q}(u spreSe.r ssnEJtS-r^?-J {q.\\sl slqJ'ãlorÌ^\ aqt 'u-te,ro8 'nltrq .to 'tuasa.rdar ot q8nou:rf,Erlsqe u;o3 Sulsolluâ âqr 'x'eÌuís ;o xeluÍs rqt \redsol os 'sE sr tr 'tr -Io lno sploJun feLlt a"tdtxal ãloq^\ Jqt olEU-ILUop ot sanbt(o"ta sa$pú sr lerÌl srr-la8uo: âr{l ruo't3 a8:auaot ples Jq JSUJS ,iuu ur uE.ì lx.ìt-rlt.iu :qr JJ 'suouela; lrl-:rluÁs -yo Átrl:e,r pur;8 E ur ror{lout âuo ol ure8e pat:auuo:-âJ pue pJlrâuuofJJ puu pJllJlruor â-rE sanútdoaa sa$!"tJ Jostxel :turdJs Jql qllq^\ ur ãrutJãtfr1 3uo1 r se s.rredde 1.ro.rrlller.uJls^s s(ssneJls-r.\i'I -to ,ipoq :qr ',ie,r slql u:ag

'q)ns

sE JfLrJlsÌxJ utrurlq lo suorlepunoJ ãr{t 'teqt puo,iag 'p:ep.-uI put 'e3tT pnos Jo suor]EprrnoJ ârìt fEJÂãJ os pue 'naíqnìsrr 3o aldurexo uìi JIJslr ..':lr3o1-oqliru,, E 'ârnl:rn.tls a18ursE olur sadib-rxal eldrrpu eqr ;aqraSor ãur.rq :op or pãln-l(Álqerrneur 'aser oq] Jo rrnlelr rrlt ur 'puu) igruq sanbti-l,tl sals!,LJ ur pJIEIJJ sa:uer-re<Ixa t)âJrp ãqt teq,!\ op ppcl.ìtreqr sqrr(u tnoge rlliru e jo 8ur1r:,n ãril ot Jlrsr.urrl prlr-ì-rprp serl ssntrls-r/\âl__-s3uuu.n sly Ua p:pr:::d âSJÌìoJ -ltleqt eJUJITâdxe aqr .rarju ìi1r:exr Jroru 'to-sanbt(o,ta sa$1tfe:urs s;ea,i âr{l ur teql sr '::,ra,uoL1 'le)lf sr IELIM 'pJurc).

-uo: st.red ãql ur ueql JJrllEr uorDuníuo: Jr.l] ur (ssaua,trsnl:lsllerntJnlls poo8 qrr,n snqr) alirs lslprntrnrts poofi ur fiur.r'JIoq,{\ âLIl lo Suruearu cqt 's:aqto ãqr r{rr^e cprs-.{q-eprs 'tr-.:peuloípe ,ilPrluíuorJru ãJoLu euo tsní sE uâJS Jq uEJ'ql,iruJãìJJs-se-lsrSoyodo:qruy srrll 'as:no: jo 'oo] srql

'PUIt

-aq dlsno:nluã,\ppun pc,rers J,\eq oq,r\ Surpuatla.rdruoJun JU:ot {1r:re,r. rrq e ',(gnlrsl,\\ tlq e 'sâlet IIãt or Jruoq urntrr rL.liourtas ãql Lrr u,\\op deap paruo:juor 'anbedo pue pa:alsenh-:s ïaqlo ãlnlosge erlt {;trs,iru Surtruruqnt aqt lsuouup.r::ppo put surseturqd Sflorre Jo IIry 'p1to.lt rrìrep ':eqlour

IXgI V NI (ITìO,{\ !IHI

i

jI

THE WORLD IN A TEXT

onlv true vocations. It all ends, to the extent that it can be

said to cnd at all, in a formalist metaphvsics of being, nevcr

stated but ahvavs insinuated, never u'ritten but ahvavs dis-

Plal'ed'But this takes us further toward interpreting Lér'i-

Strauss's doctrine, as opposed to investigating his discourse

strategies, than it is possible to go here.'8 TÌre critical issue,

so faias concerns the anthropologist as author! rvorks and

livcs, text-building, and so on, is the highlv distir-rctive rep-

resentation of "being there" that Tristes Tropiques develops,

and the equall,v distinctive representarion, inr.ertive acruallv.

of the relationship bctrvcen referring text and referred-to

world that follows from it.

To put it brutallv. but not inaccurxlç\', Lér'i-Strauss ar-

gues that the sort of immediate, in-person "being thcre" one

ãssociates with the bulk of recent American and British an-

thropologv is essentiallv impossible: it is either outright

frauá or fatuous self-dcception. The notion of a continuitl'

bctu'een experience and realifl,, hc savs earlv on in Tristes

Ttopiques, is false : "there is no continuin'in the passage be-

tween the trvo. . . . To reach realitlr we must first repudiatc

experience, even though we mav later reintegrate it into an

objecti'e s\.nthesis in u'hich sentimentalitv Ii.e. senti'nentã'l-

it é-" consci.ousness," "sensibilitl,," "subjectivill'," "feeling"]

plays no part. . . . lOurl missiotl . . ' is to understand Being

in relation to itself, and not in relation to oneself ."'n

But what is most interesting is that this conviction,

amounting indeed to a proPer faith, that "saylg-e;.11-a1e best

r sThough it is, of course , pan of m_v rr!+rnÌent (thc l]ean of it, ir-r.f act) that

the rcf . r t ion b"í , . . , ' rhe arc ìntr l l ìaer l i . thc ln ot 'ur tc lcnt ' tnel ing' and thc ars cx-

pl icandi , Ìhc Jr t ( ) l 'prcscntar iun. is so i t t t i tn.r tc i r r ant l r r r rpolog.n Js fu. re l ì r ler t l ìcnì

ãt bese inseparable. Ìhar is *.I-rv ro sec Tr"lstrs Tropiqucs as an imagc of its are$mcnt

is to revise òur vierv of rvhat tìrat argument is.leRussell, p. oz (lVeightman! p. 7r; original' p so)'

+6

L7

'(rt 9tt dd 'Fur8u() i;.zr 'd) 1p'^sn1 àql ueql rãreãJllq r sr tr:o1 '(;.!-9fi dd) uorrelsue-u uer-urq8rar11 ãr{l pàsn f,,\Eq I rrãH0z

DeJ ur lou sErl rsrSolodorqÌuE Jrlt ãJuãrJâdxJ Jo PuH E t{1l.4d

rsr8olodo:qluE âr{t slrpãD Jqs ro Jr.{ JSnErâq râpeâr ãqt :qloq

'âs;nol Jo (sr uoDSJnb ltluotãrlJ srr{r ol rJ,trsue JrlJ

oza ' ' 'sã^lãs-Jno à!\ Jo 'sn ur sã ãrlãg oq,!\ JâPEJJ 3qr rl sI iesJnof Jo JãllEtu EsE sruotsr-ìl qrns rìEt orÌ,.!\ rsoqt o] rrFurs ferr oqn] s8ureq ueumqur esr.rd;ns esner ieql Jsntlãq 'rae;e:-pnu ur peddors âJE LIâql putelqr8rylarur oq ol q8noue rej rsnÍ pãuref ere qJrq^\ suorte,\rãsqo Áqprrruj scJãprJJ âql Lrr pJtpJrf uorsrì+uor ârlt Jo Jdnp IEJJ rq] sI ' ' '

oq6 iJ,\rl J,\\ qrrq,!\ ^q

sesnrxã ãqr qlr.r\ fsrsr8olodo.rqrue] sn eplr-o.rd sarurlsur snon8rgure leq,,,rt 'saLuo;lxã o,lrl ãsãel uããÂ\lefl JopelsrslroJ ]r leq,!\ 8urdsr;8 uã^â -]o alqrderur sE,\\ I eJUIs '1r 1o esnou ãìEr.u pÌnol I 'sseueSue-rls rrãqt pâur?ta.r ,iaql 'areq JSEI ãqt st^\se 'Ir lO 'e8e1p,r fu.nol ,(tu ur paíets âÁErf ffJ.ÁÁ se rsnl rq_8ru 1 ':strqrlq,\\ nr :ssoueSurJts rrJrlt 3o pe,rr.rdap aq o: rurqr roJ Jìrl JJJ.\\,(aqr req,n SurssanS ur pJJrfns or ,i1uo perl I ' ' ' 'tuâulr{srund.,}g

puE pJEÁ\JJ ,ttu 'alurt âruES Jqt puE Juo te 'ue,rrã sE^\ I '(Uâql puEls_rãpun tou plnor J tng .Lullt qrnor pFor I :r?ly-:-:l,yEl??Iiie sE ãuI ot Jsoll sE ' ' ârã,!\ ieqr e.raq1 ' ' ' 'a8r.iÈs oói ,i1uo ere.n,GQ ;srlg 'sa8e'rts,(tu prmo-;,tprcrrar peq 1 !a,rr.r-dn dr.n Sunueqr-rrã uE rãUV 'ure8e uaas ãq râ,\eu lq8lru oq,n pue eroJeq uãâs Je,\Jpetl utLu olrq,\\ rârlto ou ruoq.$ suerpul Surru.rtqr eseql ãuounjgesiru punoJ I lerll

^\orr 'p.rluer8 uãag perl qsr,n Àru ttqt rqgnoqr

cq rq8rru tt le8e.res ãLIt Jo sÌrrurl ãruãrlxã qreer or pârue.{\ ptq I

:âÌgEqJeâJUrÌ ruâLìl

spurl Jq-grqr,re;-rdnJ ((pãrì)notun), ãqr-JoJ 3ur4oo1

uaaq 3uo1 os serl ârÌ sã38^ES ãltrunp ãrÌt sâqJeãr aq {1pu

-g 'uaqr11 'lsrnÒ s1{ Jo puã pãleâ-}âp 'uãrruq aql :a:u:r.r:d

-xã rrDeurrll (,(rolelarar-DuE :ãDãq sduq.rad 'ro) Á:ole1a-F:

E Jo t1lo Sursr.ru se sanbt(ota sa$!,tJ ur pâtuJsãrd:; st 'ídF

-üõrrelar 3o su;ared rJEJlsqE orur suorssJ.rdxa prnlpJ JIJqI

Surqrruír({inq 'agl rreql ur rreLls uer euo leql rurqt ol ãsoÌr

os Álpuosred ',uoqauos 'ta8 ot lduaue uE iq rou üÀ{u}-^:=-

IXgI V NI (TÌO.4ô. !IHI

TIIE WORLD IN A TEXT

had; the anthropologist because hc (or she , of course) imag-

ines he has had it, and that lris har.ing had it is rvhat gireshim his authoritv to speak. Seeing through to thc founda-tions of strange-looking lii'cs-"being there" in the generalsense-cannot be achier.ed bv personal immersion in them.It can only be achio'ed bv subjecting the cultural produc-tions (mr,thsr arts) rituals, or rvhatever), the things that givcthese lives their immediate look of strangeness, to a univer-salizing analvsis that, in dissolving thc immcdiao', dissolvesthe strangeness. What is remotc close up is. at a remove.near.2t

And this brings us, at last and at length, to thc markingcharacteristic of all of Lévi-Strauss's u,orkr one upon whichalmost evervone rvho deals rvith it sooner or latcr remarks:its extraordinarv air of abstracted sclf-containment. "Aloof,""closed," "cold," "airless," "çs1s$121"-alÌ the epithets thatcollect around anY sort of literary absolutism collect aroundit. Neither picturing lives nor evoking them, ncither inter-

preting them nor explaining them, but rather arranging andrearranging the materials thc lives have somehor.v left behindinto formal svstems of correspondences-his books seem toexist behind glass, self-sealing discourses into which jaguars,

semen) and rotting mcat are admitted to becomc opposi-

tions, inversions, isomorphisms.The final message of Tristes Tt opiques,and of the leupre

that unfolds from it, is that anthropological texts, like mvths

and memoirs, exist less for the rvorld than the ivorld exists

for them.

2lFor a vivid, and more recent, cxpression of his ambivalence about ap-proaching other people s too ckl5s\', see C. Lér'i-Strauss, The View Jiom Afar (New'York, 1985), especiallv the introduction and first chapter. For an examination ofsome of the moral impÌications of this stance! sce C. Geenz, "The Uses of Divcr-sitr,." in S. McMurrin. cd. The Tanner Le cturcs on Human Values, vol. z (Cam-

bridge, Ë,ng., re8ó), pp. 253-7.5.

48