Claude Levi-Strauss (28th November 1908 - 30th October 2009) was a French anthropologist and ethnologist. His theory relates to Aristotle's statement in the 4th century BC that 'all drama is conflict'; Strauss produced the theory of binary opposition within a narrative. He concluded that binary opposites are how we make sense of the world; he suggests that all narratives are based around this conflict and that the binary opposites are the central climax for any narrative structure. Someone has defined binary opposition as ‘the contrast between two mutually exclusive concepts of things that create conflict and drives a narrative’, for example, love/hate, good/evil, male/female etc. Therefore in a narrative these opposing forces will need to either balance or form some sort of resolution. He argues that the 'savage' mind had the same structures as the 'civilised' mind and that human characteristics are the same everywhere.
- cowboys and indians
- twilight (poster)
- Harry Potter good vs evil, class division
