Claude Lévi-Strauss

THE CLAUDE LEVI-STRAUSS QUIZ

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1. Where was Levi-Strauss born?

France 

Belgium

Germany

2. Levi-Strauss is best known for his work in the discipline of:


Anthropology

Engineering

 Sociology

3. In his discussion of the ways in which societies and peoples cooked and consumed food, Levi-Strauss is most famous for his concept of:


  The triangle of cutleryThe culinary tripodThe culinary triangle

4. In Levi-Strauss's discussion of food why did he suggest that the boiling of food was the closest of all the types of cooking to Nature?

Boiling normally involves the use of salt, which can cause cardiac and blood-pressure problems

Because boiling entails the (eventual) breaking down/destruction of the food being cooked and therefore boiling is close to nature's destruction (rotting) of food.

Levi-Strauss never liked boiled potatoes, he always asked for Roast potatoes, especially on a Sunday

5. Which tradition of social science thought does the work of Levi-Strauss fit into:


StructuralismMethodological Individualism Post-Structuralism

6. Why is the original title of Levi-Strauss's famous book La Pensee Sauvage considered to be such a witty and clever title?

The French are by definition a witty people!

La Pensee Sauvage is conventionally translated as The Savage Mind. However it can also be translated as 'The Wild Pansy'! Levi-Strauss was using the punning title to confront what may have been stereotypical expectations as to the contents of the book held by his readers!

If you write the title backwards it says: Egavaus Eesnep Al, which of course means.......!!

7. Where did Levi-Strauss conduct his original ethnographic research in the 1930s?


Bristol Botswana Brazil

8. In his work Levi-Strauss places great value and significance on The Engineer. Why?

Engineers can build stuff!

The engineer is a craftsman who adopts a scientific and holistic approach to all his/her projects. The engineer is a creative person and open-minded about the world.

Engineers earn more than most people

9. Which of the following best summarises Levi-Strauss's so-called 'Alliance Theory'?


People have a natural genetic need to make alliances with each other especially in bad weather

The incest taboo means that men will marry women out of their immediate kinship/family. Women of their immediate kin must be circulated and offered for marriage to men of other kin groups. As a consequence there will be a social imperative for alliances/networks between different kin groups. From these networks 'society' is generated.

The will to power means that all humans are naturally predisposed to want political power. As a consequence humans will make short-term political alliances with each other so as to climb the hierarchy of power. Once in power they will normally kill or imprison their one-time allies. This helps keep the population in check!

10. Levi-Strauss work is famous for its attempt to show that the West's sense of superiority over so-called primitive peoples was misplaced. He did this by arguing:


Since when was it considered clever to choose to live in the cold North eschewing the chance to live in the tropical climate of Brazil?

There are some very stupid people who live in the West!

The so-called primitive peoples use the same logical categories as we do in the West