Lévi-Strauss, Claude

Claude Lévi-Strauss was a French anthropologist and ethnologist known for founding structuralism, a method analyzing cultural phenomena through underlying structures like myths, stories, and customs. He believed that universal patterns shape human thought and culture, reflecting shared cognitive processes. Lévi-Strauss argued that myths across different societies reveal common themes and structures, demonstrating how humans organize their understanding of the world. His work transformed anthropology and influenced fields like literature, philosophy, and cultural studies by emphasizing the deep, often subconscious, patterns that connect diverse human cultures.