Lévi‐Strauss, Freud, and the trickster: a new perspective upon an old problem

Central to Lévi‐Strauss's well‐known analysis of the trickster figure in North American mythology is an association between the trickster and the animal category “carrion‐eater.” A review of the major tricksters in North America indicates that this association is present in one case (Raven), uncertain in the second (Coyote), and demonstrably absent in the case of other major trickster figures (such as the Algonquian Nanabush) who — if anything—are associated with the category “hare.” Merging some of the general ideas on myths developed by such structuralists as Lévi‐Strauss and Leach with some of the general ideas on myth developed by Freud, this article develops a new analysis of the trickster myths. I suggest that the underlying logic of these myths is concerned with resolving a universal dilemma: although both “uncontrolled sexuality” and “culture” are desired qualities, the first would lead to the destruction of the second. This perspective allows us to account for the trickster's two most notable characteristics: he is simultaneously portrayed as a selfish buffoon and as the culture‐hero who makes human society possible, and he is usually associated with one of three animal categories (coyote, raven, or hare). [myth, Lévi‐Strauss, structuralism, Freud, trickster, theory]