Bronisław MalinowskiReseñas

"The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia" is a groundbreaking ethnographic work by renowned anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski. This volume, the first in a series of studies, was published in 1929 and is a seminal work in the field of anthropology. It offers a deep and intricate examination of the sexual practices and customs of the Trobriand Islanders, providing unique insights into their culture and way of life.

Malinowski's meticulous and immersive approach to ethnography is evident throughout the volume. He lived among the Trobriand Islanders for an extended period, allowing him to gain the trust of the community and gain intimate access to their daily lives. This extensive fieldwork provided the foundation for his comprehensive analysis.

One of the most striking aspects of "The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia" is the way Malinowski goes beyond mere observation and description. He skillfully contextualizes the sexual practices within the broader framework of Trobriand culture, highlighting the social, economic, and psychological factors that influence their behaviors. This holistic approach sets the work apart as a remarkable contribution to the field of anthropology.

Malinowski's writing is clear and engaging, making even complex cultural concepts and practices accessible to the reader. His keen observations and detailed descriptions offer a vivid picture of the Trobriand Islanders' world, allowing readers to understand their sexual customs and beliefs with depth and nuance.

The work is not without its critics, as some have raised concerns about the potential for ethnocentrism and the representation of indigenous cultures. However, it's important to remember that Malinowski's study was groundbreaking for its time and marked a significant shift in how anthropologists approached fieldwork and cultural understanding. The volume remains an invaluable resource for scholars in anthropology and related fields.

In conclusion, "The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia" is a classic work in the field of anthropology that has withstood the test of time. Bronislaw Malinowski's immersive research, contextual analysis, and accessible writing style make it a foundational text for anyone interested in the study of culture and human societies. While it must be approached with an understanding of the historical and cultural context in which it was written, this volume remains a vital resource for those seeking a deeper understanding of the intricate cultural tapestry of the Trobriand Islanders.

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One of those classics works more often talked about than actually read. While the main points can be conveyed in a short synopsis, the significance of the work for anthropology as a whole can only be gleaned through the full text itself.

It is the book that introduces and creates Anthropology in its modern sense. It´s a fundamental book for those that want to study Anthropology.

Although Bronislaw Malinowski was a famous anthropologist, don't expect to find out anything about anthropology from his diary. He hardly ever wrote about his work, focusing instead on his loves and lusts, books he read, and obsessing over his health. (He was a hypochondriac who regularly dosed himself with arsenic, the turn-of-the-century aspirin.) I think this book better teaches the reader about the opinions and way of thinking of the European man during that time.

Frankly, I couldn't stand Malinowski. He was pretentious and bigoted and half the time I wanted to slap him. As an anthropologist you would expect he would be less prejudiced than the average person -- and perhaps, scarily, he was. But he consistently referred to his research subjects as "brutes" and "savages" and by a certain unprintable racial slur. He found their women attractive and occasionally "pawed" them, but actually sleeping with them was out of the question -- he seemed to equate the idea with bestiality. He had a fiancee back in Poland, but that didn't stop him from lusting after every white woman he met, and sometimes acting on it.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but I didn't get much out of it other than a bad taste in my mouth. However, I think it is a valuable historical document, and people studying the period would find it useful.½

Although Malinowski had long since rejected the metaphysical "dualism" between ideas and words of traditional linguistic theory, and our association of Malinowski with modern behaviorist positions, many of the theories he expounds here are in fact nakedly mentalist. As a linguist, of course, the author studied language "as part of the act", in the "context of situation" directly interrelated with bodily activity and other modes of behavior.[x] The epistomological E.R. Leach refers to Malinowski's realism as "obsessional empiricism". Basically, Malinowski's study of language among the Trobrianders is useful as a tool for finding out how we live. Curiously, he assigns "meaning" to a central place in this study.

This is one of a set of separate volumes, with Parts 4, 5 and 6. He begins with his ethnographic theory of language, discussing Language as tool, translations of the untranslatable, pragmatic context, meaning as a "function" of words, infant babble, and "gaps, gluts and vagaries". He then turns to the corpus inscriptionum agriculturae, including the magic of harvest and plenty with its economic and legal terminology. His third part is devoted to a theory of magical words--"meaningless" words, with a "coefficiency of wierdness" [218]. Well, if "spells" were intelligible they would not be magical -- how functional would mundane magic be? (!).

This is the book that begins your descent into that wooly reality that words have "no meaning", although that is their only "function". No definitions or translations are possible (all words are untranslatable), but each word is a collective "concerted activity" clearly independent of thought (which is personal).

Malinowski demonstrated the continuity, the pragmatism, the necessity within the community, of magical spells, ceremony, and legal utterances.

Takes up the problem of Religion. Devotes a Chapter to James Frazer..."the first to express the view that before humanity had begun to worship spiritual beings there was a stage of belief and ritual, essentially magical, in which man assumed a fixed order of Nature, subject to the power of specific incantations and rites." His eulogy to Frazer notes our indebtedness as believers and agnostics to one who brought "God nearer to man, the creature to its Maker, whoever might be believed to be the one and who the other." [276]

Scoditti Giancarlo, introduzione

Edition: // Descr: 274 p. 18 cm. // Series: Call No. { } With an Introduction by Robert Redfield Contains Other Essays and Notes. // //