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| Levi Strauss totemism |
Levi Strauss Totem to understanding social reality.
Introduction
Levis status born on 20th November 1908 in Brussels situated in Belgium He was the great anthropologist known for his great contribution tutor development of structural anthropology. He got the doctorate degree in sorbanne. He awarded Erasmus award in France.
Structuralism means deep invisible, and he knows structural universal of mankind.He discovered the underlying consciousness structure and how they are transformed into consciousness structure. Furthermore, he submitted to thesis over the title name 'The family and social life of the Nambikwara Indians’ The elementary structure of kinship’. He thinks Incest taboo is the essence of culture. He establish relationship between wife giver and wife taker.
Levi Strauss had evolutionary study over totemism. Let us discuss Levi-strauss structural anthropology over totemism.
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Levi Strauss totemism
Levi Strauss Take an old and hoary anthropology problem, and gives such a radical treatment that when we lay down the book we have to look add the world with new. It was expressed by Roger C. Poole to express Levi Strauss totemism.
1. Reality of totemism.
In eyes of levi strauss that the reality of totemism is different to other theorist. He doesn’t believed in the reality of totemism. He says that totemism was invented and become one of the most favorite anthropology subject To be investigated with an aim to find its origins and varieties.
• Totemic phenomena
Levi Strauss advocated for totemic phenomena. His study is not of totemism. This is the study that happened to be totemic, rather than what is contained in the substance of totemism. Not a substantive study, it is the adjective of study. He emphasized on the question that 'how are Totem phenomena arrange?' rather than 'totemism ?'. Place the question of what to how it is the radical change at that time.
• Criticism.
He was criticized by American school of thought. They express totemism does not have its own existence and laws, rather it is a product of the general tendency among the primitives. It’s main tendency to identify individuals and social groups With animals and plants world. Franz Boas, Robert Lowie Members of American school of thought express that totemic phenomena are not a reality Sui generic.
Another Criticism put forward by functional structuralist. At fast, Durkheim’s explained that totemism binds people in a mural community called the church. A society has many religions. The religion promoting social solidarity we be applicable in societies each with a single religion, but not societies with religious pluralism. Malinowski is the another person who criticize Levi Strauss on the views of totemism. He gives the example of Trobrianders. Trobrianders, the totem has of utilitarian value, provide food to people. Malinowski's explanation lacks universally, Because they are societies that have to times of non-utilitarian value.
2. The method of Lavi-Strauss.
He break down totemism into various visual and intellectual codes.
a) Levi-Strauss methodology.
i. Define the phenomena under study of a relation between two or more terms, real or supposed.
ii. Construct a table of possible permutations between those terms.
iii. Make the table as the general objective of analysis who is at this level only, scan wild side connections', the empirical phenomena considered at the beginning. Only one possible combination among others, and the complete system of which must be reconstructed beforehand.
b) Sample example : kinship system.
Levi Strauss Give the example of kinship. He examined decent relationship form Father or mother. Desent traced from the father denoted by ‘P’ And mother by ‘q’. If they come from the sides of fathers or mothers, he is recognized and valued by 1. And if not recognized then it valued by 0. He constructs permutation table such as...
i. P is 1, and q is 0
ii. P is 0 and q is 1
iii. P is 1 and q is 1
iv. P is 0 and q is 0.
Fast permutation for patrilineal society, second for matrilineal, third for bilineal, and fourth does not exist empirically.
c) Application.
Levi Strauss applied this to totemism. He mentions two series, one natural and other cultural. Natural for animals and plants, and others for person and clans. Natural series comprises of two things, categories and particulars. On the other hand, cultural series comprised group and person. There is to model exist series – collective and individual.
d) Establishment of four distinct combination.
NATURE category. Particular
CULTURE. Group. Person
He constructed four more combination From the above set of terms..
1 2 3 4
NATURECategory.Category Particular Particular
CULTURE. Group. Person Person. Group
He tried to established relationship between human being and nature in totemism.
e) Empirical examples of four types by Levi Strauss and gave example of totemic animal.
i. A species of animal or planet identified with a particular group. For example, Australian totemism i.e. Sex totems and social totems. It is the relationship between natural category and cultural group.
ii) A species of animals or plants identified with an individual. for example North American Indians. They are is individual totemism, reconcile himself with a natural category.
iii) A particular Animals or plants identified with an individual. He gave the example of Mota lived in Bank Island. The child is thought to be the ‘Incarnation of an animal or plant found or eaten by the mother when she fast become award that she was pregnant.’ This type called incarnational totemism.
IV) A particular animal or a plant identified with a group. In case of types from Polynesia and Africa, where certain animals are protected. For example, garden lizard in New Zealand, Crocodiles and lions in Africa.
f) Explanation of 4 types of combinations.
Fast two included in the domain of totemism. The other two only related to the totemism in a indirect way. He observes that the problem of totemism result from the ‘distrotion of a semantic field to which belong phenomena of the same type.’
Conclusion
Totemism is a relationship between man and nature. Totemism is a type of religion in which we are understanding similarity and difference between man and nature. Levi Strauss try to analyze the relationship between totemism and caste system or kinship system. We provide free Sociology notes for assignment and further study. It is helpful for IGNOU study and assignment msoe003.
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