Wild Thought

"Through a fertile mixture of insights gleaned from linguistics and from sociology and ethnology, Lévi-Strauss elaborated his theory of structural unity in culture and became the preeminent representative of structural anthropology. La Pensée sauvage, published in French in 1962, was his crowning achievement. Ranging over philosophies, historical periods, and human societies, it challenged the prevailing assumption of the superiority of modern Western culture and sought to explain the unity of human intellection. Fatefully titled The Savage Mind in English, the original translation nevertheless sparked a fascination with Lévi-Strauss's work among generations of Anglophone readers. Wild Thought: A New Translation of "La Pensée sauvage" rekindles that spark. An indispensable addition to any philosophical and anthropological library, this new translation, with critical annotations for the contemporary reader, restores the accuracy and integrity of the book that changed the course of twentieth-century thought"--