ABSTRACT
Les Structures élémentaires de la parenté is generally considered
not only as one o f the pivots in modern anthropological theory but
also as a masterpiece o f em pirical analysis. W e intend to assess
its actual virtues in this respect b y considering here one o f the
analyses L évi-Strauss undertakes. W e have chosen the D ieri case in particular because o f its im portance in earlier anthropological
works, and because o f the ‘anomalous’ character that Lévi-Strauss
ascribes to it.1 A s in the case o f W ikm unkan society (Lévi-Strauss 1949:
246-51), L évi-Strauss considers the D ieri system as an example of transition from ‘generalized’ (asymmetric) exchange to ‘restricted’
(symmetric) exchange (1949: 260-2).2 T h e D ieri system presents, according to Lévi-Strauss, a great m any analytical difficulties, m ainly due to the fact that it exhibits the ‘ structure* o f a m oiety system and the rule o f marriage corresponding to a so-called
Aranda system (eight sections), nam ely marriage w ith the m other’s m other’s brother’s daughter’s daughter, or, in general, marriage
between children o f first cross-cousins, w ith prohibition o f marriage
between first cross-cousins (Lévi-Strauss 1949: 256). O n the other hand, and in spite of Radcliffe-Brow n’s efforts, the D ieri system
cannot be treated as an Aranda system, says Lévi-Strauss, because it is only ‘apparently system atic’ and ‘contingent lines are needed in order to close a malformed cycle’ (Lévi-Strauss 1949: 204).
