CONTRIBUTI / 3 / Luca Peloso /
In this paper I suggest to examine Pasolini’s critiques to the father of Structural Anthropology, Claude Lévi-Strauss, based on a proposal: to substitute the notion of ‘structure’ with the term ‘process’, in order to obliterate the defects of Lévi-Strauss’ method, such as the absence of history and values. I point out that Pasolini’s arguments for his ‘reform’ of Structuralism are wrong, because they result from a false comprehension of the notion of ‘structure’ (and so of the Structuralism itself). Pasolini assumes that marxism – as a science – cannot be overcome, therefore he doesn’t see, on one side, the common elements between it and Structural Anthropology; on the other side, the progress inherent Lévi-Strauss’ Structuralism, which gives new basis to the scientific debate. Nevertheless, he also gets the weaknesses of Structural Anthropology, like its difficulty to understand cultural systems that are different from traditional societies.
