Myth and Meaning：Cracking the Code of Culture

Eversincetheriseofscienceandthescientificmethodintheseventeenthcentury，wehaverejectedmythologyastheproductofsuperstitiousandprimitiveminds.Onlynowarewecomingtoafullerappreciationofthenatureandroleofmythinhumanhistory.InthesefivelecturesoriginallypreparedforCanadianradio，ClaudeLévi-Straussoffers，inbriefsummations，theinsightsofalifetimespentinterpretingmythsandtryingtodiscovertheirsignificanceforhumanunderstanding.Thelecturesbeginwithadiscussionofthehistoricalsplitbetweenmythologyandscienceandtheevidencethatmythiclevelsofunderstandingarebeingreintegratedinourapproachtoknowledge.Inanextensionofthistheme，ProfessorLévi-Straussanalyzeswhatwehavecalled“primitivethinking”anddiscussessomeuniversalfeaturesofhumanmythology.Thefinaltwolecturesoutlinethefunctionalrelationshipbetweenmythologyandhistoryandthestructuralrelationshipbetweenmythologyandmusic.