Review: Argonauts of the Western Pacific by Bronislaw Malinowski Essay Example

or formulate answers to all of the questions concerning one area of a culture without studying the culture all together and being close with the natives for a long period of time so there is a better understanding of it and less chance for deficiencies and missing pieces.

Just like in science, simply stated, new problems and difficulties present themselves and it takes further experimentation to possibly find an answer or conclusion. I agree it is of the utmost importance, as stated by Malinowski, to study “what concerns man most intimately, that is, the hold which life has on him. Also very well put, “to study the institutions, customs, and codes or to study the behaviour and mentality without the subjective desire of feeling by what these people live, of realising the substance of their happiness-is, in my opinion, to miss the greatest reward which we can hope to obtain from the study of man. ” (Page 25)

Malinowski begins his first chapter titled ‘The Country and Inhabitants of the Kula District’ with a map and well described layout and view of the land of New Guinea. The inhabitants he studies are those that are the accessible ones and not those that live deep inland, in the hills or near swamps. The Papuasians of the eastern peninsula of New Guinea and its archipelagoes are named Papuo-Melanesians. The Papuo-Melanesians are divided into two groups, a Western and an Eastern one, which are called the Western Papuo-Melanesians and the Massim respectively.

Malinowski speaks of the two cultures almost synonymously because the Kula sphere of influence and the ethnographic area of the Massim tribes almost completely overlap. Shockingly, the Northern and

Southern Massim were once wild savages, cannibals at that, until the government put a stop to it (It is not said who’s government or how long ago this took place) as well as took part in raids and warfare. Malinowski goes on to paint a picture of the physical appearance of the people in the tribe as well as the village, houses, food, ornaments, canoes, tools, plants, beaches and water surrounding them. Similar to what I have personally learned in the past about many cultures, the Southern Massim vest authority in the eldest men.

These elderly men carry the most power and influence and are usually the ultimate decision makers. Women are also well respected and play a large part in tribal and festive activities. They are influential in that they are considered to have magical powers. Social position, descent, and inheritance follow a matrilineal formation. (page 38) Moving north, one of the most cultural influences of the Kula are the Dobu (named after the island in which they live), their manners and characters favored among the white visitors compared to other natives. Just as in the S. massim, authority is vested in the elderly men, their system of kinship is matrilineal, and women hold great influence.

Interestingly enough, women practice ordinary sorcery, whereas in other tribes it is the man’s calling. Myths also play a big part in the traditions of the Dobu and the tribes surrounding it. (Page 41-42) Less capable and willing traders and workers, according to Malinowski, are the natives of the Amphlette tribe who reside south, between the volcanic region of Dobu and the flat coral archipelago of the Trobriands. (Page 47)

Malinowski did not spend much time here for they were quite uninviting and he had greater interest North, in the Boyowa Islands of the Trobriand, which is where he sailed next to gather the majority of his ethnographic information.

He describes the Trobriand natives here as having better physical features, excellent manners, and different sociological features than that of the other Massim. The high ranked authorities or chiefs are said to be usually those with a finer physical appearance to which all others bow or squat down to when present. Not only are the Trobrianders matrilineal, but the women are independent, well respected and control several aspects of tribal life. Girls are introduced to sexuality at a very young age, starting out to be freely promiscuous with local boys and even visiting parties or neighboring villages whom just experienced the loss of a deceased elderly.

Although this is reminiscent to me of sex-slavery, the girls aren’t described as being opposed to this and shockingly the women are known to ‘chase down’ an un-expecting strange male to seduce or essentially rape him. They do, however, naturally grow up to find more permanent relationships possibly ending in marriage with which they are expected to remain faithful, but not strictly enforced. (page 54-55) Trobrianders perform sorcery, ceremonies, rituals, and special dancing periods called usigola. The dancing takes place every day for a month or longer and includes feasting, visitors, dress, decorations, singing and drum-beating. (Page 57)

Gardening plays and even bigger part of their everyday life, so much that they perform ‘magic’ on and harvest more than they can consume. Interestingly, the men compete against each other for the est ‘fruits

of his labor” in which the best gardeners receive much praise and notoriety from his crops size and quality; all in order to achieve social distinction as a good gardener and a good worker in general. (page 60-62) Different districts of the Boyowa into which the Trobriands are subdivided are distinct politically and not culturally. Each includes one head chief whom is considered to have a great deal of power, recognition and wealth, but in all big issues or activities, whether of the district or of the tribe, members of a village community keep together, and act in one group. (Page 69-70) Individual families seem to be very supportive of one another and intimate.

Astonishingly, the Trobriands have complete ignorance of physiological fatherhood “and no tie of kinship or relationship is supposed to exist between father and child, except that between a mother's husband and the wife's child,” although the man who raised the child is the one who cares for, educates, and is closest to the child in general. “The maternal uncle's position of close relation is regarded as right by law and usage, whereas the father's interest and affection for his children are due to sentiment, and to the intimate personal relations existing between them. ” (Page 71-72)

Malinowski points out that his descriptions of the various tribes, to the Trobrianders, to the Amphlettans, the Dobuans, and the Southern Massim “have been given with a few light touches in order to produce a vivid and so-to-speak personal impression of the various types of natives, and countries and of cultures, and the necessary ethnographic background for the Kula has been supplied. ” (Page 80)

In Chapter three,

Malinowski describes the meaning of Kula as being a form of trade carried on by a wide ring of islands in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction. Constantly being exchanged are long necklaces of red shell, called soulava and in the opposite direction are bracelets of white shell called mwali. Unselfishly, these items are always exchanged periodically, but with strict limitations and regulations, and never kept by an individual permanently. Malinowski notices that, “not even the most intelligent native has any clear idea of the Kula as a big, organized social construction,” he cannot see the whole from the outside. (Page 81-83)

A number of these items, such as the jewelry, function as means of a magical or religious rite, and belong as a fundamental piece of a ceremony. The undamental principle of the natives' moral code causes a man to do his fair share in Kula transaction and the more important he is, the more will he desire to be recognized by his generosity. (Page 97) Canoe-building and setting out on an expedition to do more trading are important next to the circular trading. (Page 101-102)

Malinowski go into this and more detail to give as much of an understanding as possible to the social institution of the native custom, belief and behavior in order to bring the reader into contact with the native people. 1922 “Argonauts of the western Pacific; an account of native enterprise and adventure in the archipelagoes of Melanesian New Guinea”.