Levi-Strauss and Video Games

 Claude Lévi-Strauss, one of the founders of structural anthropology, argued that myths can be understood by examining the binary oppositions they contain. Human beings, he believed, naturally organize thought through pairs of contrasting concepts such as:

• Nature / Culture
• Life / Death
• Male / Female
• Human / Animal
• Raw / Cooked
• Order / Chaos
• good/evil

For Lévi-Strauss, myths are not primarily stories about historical events. Instead, they are symbolic systems that help cultures think through fundamental contradictions in human experience.

 

How Myths Mediate Oppositions

A key idea in Lévi-Strauss's theory is that myths do not simply present opposites. They attempt to mediate or reconcile them.

For example:

Opposition	Mediating Figure
Nature / Culture	Trickster
Human / Animal	Hero with animal traits
Life / Death	Underworld traveler
Order / Chaos	Culture hero or king

The myth often introduces a character who exists between two categories and helps bridge the contradiction.

Example: The Trickster

Lévi-Strauss famously discussed trickster figures found in many indigenous American myths.

The trickster:

• Creates order and disorder.
• Helps and harms people.
• Is clever and foolish.
• Crosses boundaries.

Because the trickster occupies an in-between position, the figure helps cultures think about the tension between order and chaos.

Applying the Idea to Video Games

Since you're working with critical game studies, students can use Lévi-Strauss's approach to analyze games.

Ask:

1. What represents order in the game?
2. What represents chaos?
3. Who or what mediates between them?
4. Does the game ultimately favor one side?
5. What values are associated with order and chaos?

Example: The Legend of Zelda

• Order: Hyrule, monarchy, social harmony.
• Chaos: Ganon, monsters, corruption.
• Mediator: Link, who moves between civilized and wild spaces.
• Resolution: Restoration of order.

Example: Dark Souls

• Order: The Age of Fire.
• Chaos: Darkness and entropy.
• The game complicates the opposition by asking whether preserving order is actually desirable.

Example: Civilization

• Order: Organized states, technology, law.
• Chaos: Barbarians, undeveloped territory, instability.
• The game largely rewards the expansion of ordered civilization.

A Useful Classroom Question

You might ask students:

According to Lévi-Strauss, myths help cultures think through oppositions such as order and chaos. In your chosen video game, what represents order and what represents chaos? How does the game's story or mechanics attempt to reconcile these opposing forces?

This question encourages students to move beyond plot summary and toward structural analysis, which is exactly what Lévi-Strauss hoped to achieve in his study of myth.