ABSTRACT
T h e problem s in Les Structures élémentaires de la parenté start
w ith the very definition o f what it is about. A lthough the presen
tation o f the elem entary-com plex typology in the first edition o f
the book was quite clear in stating the sort o f closed systems Lévi-Strauss was concerned w ith, later publications and the author’s preface to the second edition made the question obscure.
