▁of ▁Kin ship . ▁Lé vi - St ra uss ▁had ▁known ▁Roman ▁Jakob son ▁during ▁their ▁time ▁together ▁at ▁the ▁New ▁School ▁in ▁New ▁York ▁during ▁W W II ▁and ▁was ▁influenced ▁by ▁both ▁Jakob son ' s ▁struct ural ism ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁the ▁American ▁anth rop ological ▁tradition . ▁In ▁Element ary ▁Struct ures ▁he ▁exam ined ▁kin ship ▁systems ▁from ▁a ▁struct ural ▁point ▁of ▁view ▁and ▁demonstrated ▁how ▁apparently ▁different ▁social ▁organizations ▁were ▁in ▁fact ▁different ▁permut ations ▁of ▁a ▁few ▁basic ▁kin ship ▁structures . ▁In ▁the ▁late ▁ 1 9 5 0 s ▁he ▁published ▁Struct ural ▁Anth rop ology , ▁a ▁collection ▁of ▁ess ays ▁out lin ing ▁his ▁program ▁for ▁struct ural ism . ▁ ▁By ▁the ▁early ▁ 1 9 6 0 s ▁struct ural ism ▁as ▁a ▁movement ▁was ▁coming ▁into ▁its ▁own ▁and ▁some ▁believed ▁that ▁it ▁offered ▁a ▁single ▁un ified ▁approach ▁to ▁human ▁life ▁that ▁would ▁em brace ▁all ▁discipl ines . ▁Roland ▁Bar thes ▁and ▁Jacques ▁Der r ida ▁focused ▁on ▁how ▁struct ural ism ▁could ▁be ▁applied ▁to ▁literature . ▁ ▁The ▁so - called ▁" G ang ▁of ▁Four " ▁of ▁struct ural ism ▁was ▁Lé vi - St ra uss , ▁Lac an , ▁Bar thes , ▁and ▁Fou ca ult . ▁ ▁Inter pret ations ▁and ▁general ▁critic isms ▁ ▁Struct ural ism ▁is ▁less ▁popular ▁today ▁than ▁other ▁approaches , ▁such ▁as ▁post - struct ural ism ▁and ▁de const ruction . ▁Struct