structural anthropology

9.6

A way of studying societies by finding hidden rules behind their customs

noun
/ˈstrʌk.tʃər.əl ˌæn.θrəˈpɒl.ə.dʒi/

Formal

: antropología estructural

Students of structural anthropology analyze myths to uncover patterns underlying human societies.

Examples

The theory of structural anthropology was developed by Claude Lévi-Strauss.
Critics of structural anthropology argue that it overlooks historical and individual variation in cultures.
Claude Lévi-Strauss is closely associated with the development of structural anthropology in the twentieth century.
Many scholars study structural anthropology to understand cultural patterns.
Claude Lévi-Strauss is closely associated with the development of structural anthropology in the twentieth century.
Students of structural anthropology analyze myths to uncover patterns underlying human societies.
Critics of structural anthropology argue that it overlooks historical and individual variation in cultures.

Surface Forms

structural anthropology singular

structural anthropologies plural

Morphology

structural + anthropology

The phrase is a direct composition of 'structural' (relating to arrangement or organization) and 'anthropology' (the study of humans), so a learner who knows both words can infer it means the branch of anthropology concerned with social or cultural structures. The formation is a common, compositional noun phrase (and has clear cognates in many languages), making the meaning predictable rather than idiomatic.

Etymology

The term structural anthropology comes from the image of a building's hidden structure that quietly holds up the visible parts of a house. Anthropology is the study of people, so the idea is to look for the 'hidden rules' under a society that shape its stories and customs.