Could Claude Levi-Strauss's structural method of myth analysis be applyed to modern myths(urban legends)?

Question

I read the Four Myths of Winnebago that Claude Levi-Strauss applyed his method to for my anthropological thought class and I became really intrested.I was wondering if perhaps it could be applyed to urban legends and modern and past day american myths/legends (Pecos Bill,Paul Bunyan and the likes).I was thinking about doing a study/writeing a paper on this for my own enrichment outside of class.

I am not getting any answers in the mythology sectiono fthe answer site so I will try here as it is anthropology as well.

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Answer 1

It sounds like an interesting connection, but you will need more than just Claude Levi-Strauss to compare. There are many other anthropological structuralists -- in my master's program, I read some Edmund Leach, Rodney Needham and Durkheim. There is also some work in Linguistics on binary opposition in Jakobson and de Saussure (very structural!). Be warned that sometimes they can read like stereo instructions! Good luck - it sounds like an interesting project!

Answer 2

i think so. Check out the books by Alan Dundes and Jan Brunvand on urban folklore. They're interested in the forms of folklore, in terms what aspects of a story change over time, and what parts stay the same.