WILD THOUGHT WILD THOUGHT A New Translation of La Pensée sauvage CLAUDE LÉVI- STRAUSS Translated by Jeffrey Mehlman and John Leavitt With annotations by John Leavitt The UniversiTy of ChiCago Press Chicago and London The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637 The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 2021 by The University of Chicago All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles and reviews. For more information, contact the University of Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th St., Chicago, IL 60637. Published 2021 Printed in the United States of America 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 1 2 3 4 5 ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 20801- 5 (cloth) ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 41308- 2 (paper) ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 41311- 2 (e- book) DOI: https:// doi. org /10 .7208 /chicago /9780226413112 .001 .0001 Originally published in French as La Pensée sauvage © Librairie Plon, 1962. This translation is based on the Pléiade edition of Claude Lévi- Strauss’s works edited by Vincent Debaene, Frédéric Keck, Marie Mauzé, and Martin Ruef © Gallimard, 2008. Published with the generous assistance of the France Chicago Center’s Collège de France Program. Frontispiece: The wild pansy (Viola tricolor). Plate from P.-J. Redouté, Choix des plus belles fleurs (Paris, 1827). Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Lévi- Strauss, Claude, author. | Mehlman, Jeffrey, translator. | Leavitt, John Harold, 1952– translator, writer of supplementary textual content. Title: Wild thought : a new translation of “La pensée sauvage” / Claude Lévi- Strauss ; translated by Jeffrey Mehlman and John Leavitt ; with annotations by John Leavitt. Other titles: Pensée sauvage. English Description: Chicago ; London : The University of Chicago Press, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2020027878 | ISBN 9780226208015 (cloth) | ISBN 9780226413082 (paperback) | ISBN 9780226413112 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Ethnopsychology. | Folk classification. | Cognition. Classification: LCC GN451 .L3813 2021 | DDC 155.8/ 2—dc23 LC record available at https:// lccn.loc .gov/ 2020027878 ♾ This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48- 1992 (Permanence of Paper). In memory of Maurice Merleau- Ponty . . . and there is pansies, that’s for thoughts shakesPeare, Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 5 Il n’y a rien au monde que les Sauvages, les paysans et les gens de province pour étudier à fond leurs affaires dans tous les sens; aussi, quand ils arrivent de la Pensée au Fait, trouvez- vous les choses complètes. There is nothing in the world like Savages, peasants, and provin- cials for studying out their affairs to the bottom and in all their bearings; thus, when they move from the Thought to the Deed, you find things complete. BalzaC, Le Cabinet des antiques, 1836 CONTENTS Translators’ Introduction by John Leavitt · xi Prospectus for La Pensée sauvage, 1962 · xix Preface · xxi 1 The Science of the Concrete · 1 2 The Logic of Totemic Classifications · 41 3 Systems of Transformations · 85 4 Totem and Caste · 121 5 Categories, Elements, Species, Numbers · 151 6 Universalization and Particularization · 181 7 The Individual as Species · 215 8 Time Regained · 245 9 History and Dialectic · 279 Appendix: On the Wild Pansy · 309 Bibliography · 313 Notes to the Translation · 323 Index · 349