On Centrism and Dualism - Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

CENTRISM AND DUALISM
other, hence the story as a whole can be thought of as being a ‘palimpsest’ 37 of superimposed
and homologically related metaphoric transformations.
The analyst who seeks to decode the message embodied in the myth as a whole (which is
different from the surface messages of the respective episodes) must look for a pattern of
structure (of a somewhat abstract kind), which is common to the whole set of metaphors. In
its initial state the mythical story stands in a linear form, one thing happening after another.
The mythical events unfold in sequence, forming a syntagmatic chain, being linked by
metonymy. The analyst has to identify the meaningful points, where the myth can be broken
up and arranged into episodes. These episodes are thought of as being partial transformations
of one another. The episodes are then rearranged and their relationship is considered as being
metaphoric. So metonymy has to be converted into metaphor. The results are abstract
elements, which need to be summed up and read again as a syntagmatic chain. This final
switch from metaphor to metonymy brings about the overall meaning of the myth. The analyst
has to make a double switch from the metonymic mode to the metaphoric and back again
(ibid.: 25-26).
In summary, the task of the analyst wishing to unravel the meaning of a myth lies in breaking
up the myth as a whole and rearranging the emerging elements under the premises of
metonymy and metaphor. 38
LEACH indicates that the heuristic value of LÉVI-STRAUSS’ technique of myth interpretation is
not confined to mythology, but is of general importance for the anthropological study of, e.g.
ritual activity. Since all utterances are sequences in time they are, by their very nature and
similar to myths, syntagmatic chains of message bearing elements. One important aspect of
most verbal messages is that they are synchronic: the end is implicit in the beginning and vice
versa. The time interval between the beginning of the utterance and the end is so short that we
are liable to forget that any time factor is involved at all. By contrast, ritual performances are
often diachronic, separated by a considerable amount of time. This time span separating one
element of the performance from another makes us liable to forget that these two elements
belong to the same ritual complex, hence constituting a single message (ibid.: 26-27).
37 A palimpsest is a manuscript page that has been written on, scraped off, and used again. In common usage the
word stands as a metaphor, negating author’s claims for exclusive originality, by underlining that writing exists
only in the presence of already written.
38 For a practical example of LÉVI-STRAUSS’ ‘celebrated technique of myth interpretation’ I would like to point
to his essay The Story of Asdiwal (LÉVI-STRAUSS 1967a), where he analyzes a Tsimshian Indian myth, which
LEACH identifies as “[…] the most successful piece of structural analysis of myth prior to the appearance of his
The Raw and the Cooked.” (LEACH 1967: 1) LÉVI-STRAUSS interprets the myth of Asdiwal as functioning to
reconcile the contradictions inherent in matrilineal descent combined with patrilocal residence (cf. DAVIS 1974:
8).
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