The Raw and the Cooked (Claude Lévi-Strauss)

"The Raw and the Cooked" by Claude Lévi-Strauss analyzes how myths, stories, and cultural practices reveal human thinking. He compares natural, unprocessed things ("raw") with culturally transformed, prepared ones ("cooked"). Cooking symbolizes human effort to shape and give meaning to nature. Lévi-Strauss suggests that myths operate through binary oppositions—like raw vs. cooked—to help cultures understand the world and establish social order. This framework highlights how humans use stories and rituals to navigate and interpret their environment and experiences.