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ANTHROPOLOGICAL THEORY
BRONISLAW MALINOWSKI
BRONISLAW MALINOWSKI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f22VsAlOwb
c
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BRONISLAW MALINOWSKI
 Born:
Krakow, Poland on April 7, 1884
 Parents:
 Family:
Very
Lucyan & Jozefa Malinowski
Upper-class
cultured
Scholarly
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MALINOWSKI: EDUCATION
 Ph.D.
in Philosophy, Physics, and
Mathematics
University of Krakow in 1908
 1913:
Lectured at London School of
Economics
Ph.D. in Science in 1916
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MALINOWSKI
Founded:
Social
Functionalism
Anthropology
All
components of society interlock
to form a well-balanced system
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FUNCTIONALISM
Britain:
Shift
Reaction to
th
19
c. evolution
from Social change
Evolution
To
Social
How
stability
societies stayed the same
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SOCIAL CONTEXT FOR FUNCTIONALISM
World->Colonies
Problem:
Ruling native people?
Required:
Practical
knowledge of social &
political structures
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SOCIAL CONTEXT FOR FUNCTIONALISM
Research
focus: Functioning of
social systems
Information
served colonial
administration
Focus:
Maintaining order & stability
BRITAIN – SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY
 Social
Structure = Enduring patterns
of social relationships
 Function: Society= Organism
Parts work together to maintain
system
 Emphasis on equilibrium
Change->Upsets the equilibrium
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MALINOWSKI INTRODUCTION

Emphasized characteristics of:
Beliefs
 Ceremonies
 Customs
 Institutions
 Religion
 Ritual
 Sexual taboos

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MALINOWSKI INTRODUCTION
 First
field study came in 1915-18
 Studied
the Trobriand Islanders of New
Guinea in the southwest Pacific
 Used
holistic approach to study
natives’ social interactions including:
Annual
Kula Ring Exchange
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BRONISLAW MALINOWSKI

1915 WW I started
 Remained
the war
in New Guinea for duration of
Lived
with Trobriand Islanders
Became a well-known anthropologist

1922 Argonauts of the
Western Pacific
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MALINOWSKI
BIOPSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONALISM
Society:
Functions to meet needs
of individuals
All people have these needs
3
Levels of Needs:
1. Biological
2. Instrumental
3. Integrative
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BIOPSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONALISM
These
fundamental needs must be
supplied by culture
Anthropologists
could study the
ways in which a culture meets
these needs for its people.
BIOPSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONALISM
1. Biological needs:
Nutrition
Reproduction
Bodily
comforts
Safety
Relaxation
Movement
MALINOWSKI
BIOPSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONALISM
2. Instrumental needs:
Law
Education
BIOPSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONALISM
3. Integrative needs:
Religion
Art
BIOPSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONALISM
Culture
provides:
Stability, cohesion, and
physical survival through:
Myths
Symbols
Rituals
TROBRIANDS STUDY
Characteristics of Malinowski’s
method
Lived as a native among natives
Watched them daily at work and at play
Conversations with them their language
Information from personal observation
Statements directly by the natives
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MW WHAT IS AN ETHNOGRAPHY?
Documents people’s routine daily lives
Explores a cultural group
Live with group being studied, or
spends a lot of time with them
“Guiding question” that evolves
during the study
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GOALS OF ETHNOGRAPHY
Unobtrusive
Identify geographical & temporal
location
To reveal little known societies
To obtain insider’s view
Understand point of view from inside
the group
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GOALS OF ETHNOGRAPHY
 Identify
behavior patterns
 Make reader understand perspective
of native
 Understand:
 Context
 Complexity
 Politics
of social processes
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GUIDELINES FOR DOING ETHNOGRAPHIC
WORK
Accuracy of information
Complexity of information
Careful Observation
Speak native language
No contact with white people
Seek information naturally
Instead of through informants
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TROBRIAND KULA RING
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 HOLISM:
Kula is an exchange system in
Trobriand Islands:
 Politics
 Alliance
formation
 Prestige
 Feasting
 Economic
trade
 Magic
 Contributes
to the integration of society
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KULA
Ethnographic
work (Holism):
Deal with the totality—an
anatomy of culture
To
study only religion (or
technology) creates an artificial
field of inquiry
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MAKING THE STRANGE FAMILIAR
 Ethnology
introduced law & order into
what seemed chaotic & freakish
 Transformed
sensational, wild &
unaccountable world of “savages” into a
number of well-ordered communities
 Key:
Society exists to fulfill the needs
of the individual
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TROBRIAND ISLANDERS
• Subsistence--fishing
agriculture
• Matrilineal
and yam
society: Descent
traced from mother’s line
• Inheritance passes from mother’s
brother to sister’s son
• Brother required to gift (yams) his
sister’s family
EXCHANGE AND TRADE
• Most
spectacular and prestigious
exchanges occurred between islands
• Known
as kula
• Involved
long sailing expeditions
across open sea
BASIC FEATURES OF THE KULA
•
Separation between utilitarian exchange
(gimwali) and ceremonial exchanges (kula)
•
Kula: Exchange of ceremonial items: soulava
(necklaces) and mwali (armbands)
•
Items not kept permanently
•
•
At most 1 or 2 years
Possession of famous kula items brings
person renown & prestige
FEATURES OF THE KULA
 Partners
in the kula were lifelong trading
partners obliged to each other for:
 Hospitality
 Help
 Assistance
 Minor
kula exchanges within a group of islands
preceded major expeditions.
 Usually
year.
one overseas trading expedition per
Prow of a Kula Canoe, c. 1993
FEATURES OF THE KULA
 Two
types of Kula gifts
 Symbolic
value
1. Shell-disc necklaces (Soulava) that are
traded to the north (circling the ring in
clockwise direction)
2. Shell armbands (Mwali) that are traded in
the southern direction (circling counterclockwise).
2 TYPES OF GIFTS
Soulava
Mwali
MALINOWSKI’S CONTRIBUTIONS
(1884-1942)
A
founding father of British social
anthropology
British
From
anthropology paradigm shift:
speculative and historical
(evolutionary) to
The ahistorical study of social
institutions
MALINOWSKI’S CONTRIBUTIONS
 Greatest
contribution as an
ethnographer
 Importance of studying social behavior
in cultural contexts
 Participant-observation
 Consider observable differences
between norms and action:
 Between
what people say they do and what
they actually do
MALINOWSKI’S CONTRIBUTIONS
 Detailed
descriptions of Trobriand social
life and thought
 Kinship & Marriage (e.g., "sociological
paternity“ vs “biological”)
 In economic anthropology
 (e.g.,
“Reciprocity")
 Explain
human economic behavior using
both economics and anthropology