The Double Twist : : From Ethnography to Morphodynamics / / ed. by Pierre Maranda.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter University of Toronto Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013
• MitwirkendeR: Côté, Alain,; Darányi, Sándor,; Gregory, Christopher A.,; Lévi-Strauss, Claude,; Maranda, Pierre,; Petitot, Jean,; Quinn, Andrew William,; Racine, Luc,; Schwimmer, Eric,; Scubla, Lucien,
• HerausgeberIn: Maranda, Pierre,
• Place / Publishing House: Toronto : : University of Toronto Press, , [2016]; ©2001
• Year of Publication: 2016
• Language: English
• Series: Anthropological Horizons
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (352 p.)

The essays in this intriguing collection all discuss Claude Levi-Strauss' "Canonical Formula," which he created in 1955 as a means of anthropological investigation. This apparently mathematical formula relates myths to cultural artifacts, and is especially applicable to the study of mental processes. In his paper, Levi-Strauss argues that the similarities in the architecture of seemingly disparate groups suggests a cognitive pattern that is shared by humanity; a ".geometry that human endeavour has envisioned." The purpose of the work is to test the significance of the Formula, which is controversial and, for some, worthless. Part one applies the Formula to ethnographic field data and shows how it can lead to a deeper understanding of cultural facts; part two applies it to a body of Classical myths as an analytical tool, and part three focuses on the formal and mathematical applications and developments of the formula.The volume brings together international scholars - including Levi-Strauss, himself - from a variety of disciplines and offers important advances in structuralist thought. The essays build on each other to create a lucid, sophisticated work that pushes the limits of structuralism. This is a valuable book for scholars and advanced students of disciplines as diverse as anthropology, classical and religious studies, architecture, semiotics and mathematics.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Contributors -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Part One: Ethnography and the Canonical Formula -- 1. Hourglass Configurations -- 2. Analogy and the Canonical Formula of Mythic Transformations -- 3. Is the Canonic Formula Useful in Cultural Description? -- 4. Mapping Cultural Transformation through the Canonical Formula: The Pagan versus Christian Ontological Status of Women among the Lau People of Malaita, Solomon Islands -- Part Two: Analyses, Tests, and Contextualizations of the Canonical Formula -- 5. Hesiod, the Three Functions, and the Canonical Formula of Myth -- 6. Classical Myths and Transformation: Computer Observation of the Levi-Strauss Formula at Work -- 7. Ramistic Commonplaces, Levi-Straussian Mythlogic, and Binary Logic -- Part Three: The Logico-Mathematical Status of the Canonical Formula -- 8. The Set of Canonical Transformations Implied in the Canonical Formula for the Analysis of Myth -- 9. On Some Philosophical Dynamic and Connectionist Implications of the Canonical Formula of Myth Seen as Space Categorization -- 10. A Morphodynamical Schematization of the Canonical Formula for Myths -- Conclusion -- Backmatter