Tristes Tropiques
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Cover of the first edition
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| Author | Claude Lévi-Strauss |
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| Translator | John Russell |
| Country | France, Brazil |
| Language | French |
| Series | Collection Terre humaine |
| Subject | Anthropology |
| Published |
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| Media type | |
| Pages | 404 (1961 English edition) 425 (1975 Atheneum edition) |
| ISBN | |
Tristes Tropiques (the French title translates literally as "Sad Tropics") is a memoir, first published in France in 1955, by the anthropologist and structuralist Claude Lévi-Strauss. It documents his travels and anthropological work, focusing principally on Brazil, though it refers to many other places, such as the Caribbean and India. Although ostensibly a travelogue, the work is infused with philosophical reflections and ideas linking many academic disciplines, such as sociology, geology, music, history and literature. The book was first translated into English by John Russell as A World on the Wane.
The book consists of 36 chapters, organised into nine sections.
Parts 1 to 3 detail Lévi-Strauss' reflections on leaving Europe and visiting the New World and the Tropics, comparing his first impressions with subsequent visits, relating aspects of his academic training as well as his work as a professor during the founding years of University of São Paulo.
Part 4 'The Earth and its Inhabitants' sets out a geographical analysis of the development of South American settlements, as well as an aside into social structure in India and what is now Pakistan.
Parts 5 through 8 each focus on a Native Brazilian culture group: Caduveo (or Guaycuru), Bororó, Nambikwara and Tupi-Kawahib respectively, while touching on many other topics.
Part 9 'The Return' closes the book with reflections on, among other themes, the nature and purpose of anthropology, the effects of travel on the mind, the roles of Buddhism and Islam in global culture, humankind's place in the universe and our connections to the world and to one another.
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