| Chapter 1: | Myth and Theory |
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the existence of twins (1996). However, Lévi-Strauss demonstrated that these twins are not real twins but always have a clause which demonstrates the limits to their similarity. For example, the Tupinamba Genesis myth states that the supposed twins have different fathers; furthermore, in Tupinamba society, conception is exclusively attributed to the father (Lévi-Strauss 1996, 62–63). Thus, the twins are not really twins at all; furthermore, in action, the twins are differentiated by virtue of the fact that they possess opposite qualities: one twin is stupid and the other is clever (ibid.). Lévi-Strauss suggested that the reason for this differentiation is that actual twins and the resulting equality would result in inertia, whereas the form of binary split we are presented with is marked by inequality and ‘dynamic disequilibrium’ (ibid.).
1.7. FROM THE GOATSUCKER TO THE GRAIL
By postulating this structure of ‘dynamic disequilibrium’, Lévi-Strauss aligned his theory with Dumont’s ‘hierarchical opposition’45 and distanced himself from the ‘quadripartite structures’ Mosko uncovered (1985). Crucially, he also showed both affinity and divergence with the ‘structure of balance’ that is uncovered in this book, for, as we shall see, in the Welsh material, there are also present twinned elements (either literally or figuratively), which also demonstrate the kinds of oppositions that Lévi-Strauss uncovered in the Americas (weak/strong); however, whereas Lévi-Strauss demonstrated that these elements in the Americas exist in order to highlight the prevalence of one element over the other, in Wales we get the terms tied together (stupid/clever, but strong/weak). Thus, the hierarchy is negated by the balancing element introduced in the notion that possessing one positive attribute leads to a lack of another. This is perhaps more analogous to the types of structure Lévi-Strauss uncovered in The Raw and the Cooked, where he unveiled an underlying balance between the ‘burned world’ and the ‘rotten world’ with cooking fire and the mediating term between these two extremes (1994). However, the ‘structure of balance’ is, delightfully, even closer to the structures that Lévi-Strauss uncovered during his brief writings on Celtic myth,