Tuesday, June 12, 2007

The tyranny of the letter



'We can't have you use the name Lévi-Strauss. Here, your name shall be Claude L. Strauss.' I asked why and they said, 'The students would find it funny, because of the blue jeans.' And so I lived in the U.S. for many years with a mutilated surname.

Claude Lévi-Strauss, De près et de loin