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Le Rôti et le Bouilli: Lévi‐Strauss Theory of Cannibalism 1
Author(s) -
SHANKMAN PAUL
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
american anthropologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.51
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1548-1433
pISSN - 0002-7294
DOI - 10.1525/aa.1969.71.1.02a00060
Subject(s) - cannibalism , levi strauss , argument (complex analysis) , philosophy , epistemology , sociology , anthropology , humanities , ecology , chemistry , biology , biochemistry , larva
In a recent article entitled “The Culinary Triangle,” Lévi‐Strauss contends that an analysis of cooking as a language will reveal certain structural oppositions in society. He predicts that the practice of cannibalism, which employs various modes of cooking, will also reveal such oppositions. An examination of Lévi‐Strauss' argument and a test of his predictions indicate that, owing to theoretical and methodological weaknesses, his ideas on how best to serve our fellow man will be of little use to either cannibals or anthropologists.