Narrative Analysis Frameworks
Lévi-Strauss’s Structural Analysis
Claude Lévi-Strauss’s “The Structural Study of Myth” (1955) examines relations between elements of myths and between their variants. Meaning emerges through these relations as well as through the sequence of events.
This is an interpretative method. The concepts below are a guide to analysis, rather than a numbered catalogue of established myth types.
Key concepts
These short explanations introduce the approach.
| Reference | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Mytheme | A minimal meaningful relation or proposition identified by the analyst; its significance depends on its place in a larger structure. |
| Bundles of relations | Group comparable relations across episodes instead of reading only in plot order. |
| Opposition and mediation | Examine contrasts and elements that connect or negotiate them. Which contrast matters must be argued from the material. |
| Transformation across variants | Compare how relationships are preserved, reversed or otherwise changed in different tellings. |
A way to begin
The following is an editorial workflow for this website, not a fixed procedure prescribed by Lévi-Strauss.
| Reference | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Document the versions | Identify the texts, languages, collection contexts and translations being compared. |
| Propose relations | Write brief propositions tied to passages. Explain why you consider them comparable. |
| Compare transformations | Set proposed relations beside their counterparts in other versions and describe the changes. |
| Test the reading | Look for counterexamples and retain alternative interpretations where the evidence supports them. |
Using this reference
Avoid treating an opposition such as nature/culture as present simply because the theory makes it available. Show how the particular narrative and its context support the interpretation.
Any later association should name the analyst, versions and passages, reasoning, and uncertainty. Similar structure alone cannot establish common origin or a transmission route.
Each heading has a stable link for citation and future cross-referencing. Narrative associations will follow later analysis.
Sources and further reading
Lévi-Strauss, Claude. “The Structural Study of Myth.” The Journal of American Folklore 68, no. 270 (1955): 428–444.
- Original article: DOI 10.2307/536768
- UQAM: bibliography and link to the French version, La Structure des Mythes
The explanations are concise editorial summaries. Published identifiers are distinguished from this page’s reference headings and suggested recording practices.
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