Malinowski
Malinowski, born in Poland was wealthy and well educated. He gained a Ph.D. in Philosophy, Physics and Mathematics (1908) followed by a Ph.D. in Science (1916). He decided to study Anthropology after reading Sir James Frazer’s The Golden Bough and is now considered by many to have provided the first example of intensive ethnographic fieldwork. He engaged in an in-depth study of the Trobriand Islanders while he was interned there as an enemy alien during WW1. While there, he undertook the task of living among the natives, sharing their lives and comprehensively documenting every detail. His facility for languages allowed him access to aspects of the islanders society that others may not have been privy to.Malinowski is often referred to as “The Father of Functionalism” a methodology that calls for the ethnographer to study and often re-frame facts and observations. S/he finds the relationship between isolated customs, institutions . . .
” Malinowski used the Kula Ring as a case in point, linking the exchange of seemingly useless gifts of shells and bracelets, to a more economic and historical role within the islanders society. He writes of the psychological and sociological undercurrents imbued by the Kula, but does not expand on these themes. It also illustrates a system of regional integration in that it is a cultural system that links a number of different societies. However this one chapter gives insight into the detail and precision of Malinowski’s documentation and research and I could understand why he is held in high esteem. In keeping with his functionalist views, Malinowski’s study of the Kula demonstrates his “belief that culture was a system of inter-related parts. Functionalism was opposed to Tylor’s notion of evolutionary cultural “survivals” and argued that no custom persists unless it fulfills some kind of socially useful purpose. In this essay one can see who influenced Malinowski and how the disciplines he had studied played a role in his ethnography. He also minimizes serious aspects of the Kula such as conflicts, which arise, and the trade of necessities. He points out that it is an exchange not based on the maximization of scarce resources, thus it must point to economic factors Westerners might overlook. In saying that, I found Malinowski to be an accomplished writer with a flair for the dramatic which, in no way detracts from the valuable, pertinent information he is imparting. I was reminded of Malinowski’s disagreement with Boas about utilizing a historical context when studying ethnic groups, when reading this article. He was however influenced by Spencer’s “organic” analogy and also to some extent Durkheim’s belief in the “vast continuing apparatus. This made me wonder if he was perhaps trying to hard to make the islanders “other” and perhaps inadvertently perpetuating the “noble savage” myth. His analogy regarding the Kula Ring and the Crown Jewels was interesting in that it simplified the understanding of a foreign concept. This was only one chapter in a very large book, and so any assumptions I make are based on limited knowledge of the rest of his work.
Common topics in this essay:
Kula Ring, Father Functionalism, Trobriand Islanders, Crown Jewels, Golden Bough, Bronislaw Malinowski, PhD Science, Physics Mathematics, kula ring, islanders society, crown jewels, |
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