Documental: Cuentos de la jungla
Summary
TLDREl guion narra la revolución en antropología iniciada por Bronisław Malinowski, quien abandonó las comodidades coloniales para vivir entre los nativos de las islas Trobriand, en Papúa Nueva Guinea. Su innovador enfoque de 'observación participante' desafía las nociones victorianas del 'salvaje simple', ofreciendo una visión más humana y compleja de las culturas indígenas. Malinowski's diarios privados, publicados posthumamente, revelaron su lado oscuro, generando cuestionamientos sobre su legado. El guion explora su pasión por la ciencia, su búsqueda de aceptación y prestigio, y cómo su trabajo influenció profundamente la comprensión de las sociedades humanas.
Takeaways
- 🧐 Bronisław Malinowski es considerado uno de los padres fundadores de la antropología social moderna y su trabajo en las islas de Papua Nueva Guinea revolucionó la comprensión de la cultura y la sociedad indígenas.
- 🌊 Durante su estancia en las islas Trobriand, Malinowski adoptó un enfoque innovador de 'observación participante', viviendo entre los nativos y aprendiendo su idioma para comprender su cultura desde su perspectiva.
- 📚 Malinowski criticó la antropología de su tiempo por ser prejuiciosa y carecer de rigurosidad científica, promoviendo un enfoque más empírico y basado en la observación directa.
- 🎓 Con un trasfondo en matemáticas y física, Malinowski aportó una dimensión científica a la antropología, buscando aplicar rigurosidad y métodos científicos a la disciplina.
- 🌐 La Primera Guerra Mundial y la situación política de la época influyeron en la duración de su estancia de campo, convirtiéndose en una de las misiones de campo más largas de la historia de la antropología.
- 💭 Malinowski descubrió que las tradiciones y rituales, como el 'kula', tenían una función social y simbólica profunda, reforzando el estatus de los jefes y la prestigio, y mostrando que las sociedades indígenas eran complejas y racionales.
- 📖 Publicó 'Argonauts of the Western Pacific', donde presentó sus hallazgos y su visión de que las culturas indígenas eran sofisticadas y racionales, desafiando las nociones victorianas del 'salvaje simple'.
- 🏛 Su teoría del funcionalismo argumentaba que todas las culturas humanas tienen un propósito y que los rituales han evolucionado para satisfacer las necesidades básicas de los individuos.
- 👥 Malinowski fue un personaje complejo y contradictorio, cuyos diarios privados, publicados postumamente, revelaron su lado oscuro y sus prejuicios, lo que generó cuestionamientos sobre su legado.
- 🔄 A pesar de las controversias, su trabajo influenció profundamente la antropología y la percepción de las culturas indígenas, y su método de observación participante sigue siendo una herramienta valiosa en la investigación cultural.
- 🌟 Malinowski aspiraba a que la antropología se convirtiera en una disciplina filosófica, iluminadora y elevadora, y su legado continúa inspirando y provocando reflexión sobre la naturaleza de la cultura humana.
Q & A
¿Quién fue Bronisław Malinowski y cómo cambió su trabajo la antropología?
-Bronisław Malinowski fue un antropólogo que revolucionó la disciplina al alejarse de las teorías de los 'salvajes simples' y adoptar un enfoque más participativo y observador, viviendo entre los nativos y estudiando sus costumbres de cerca.
¿Cuál fue la importancia de las islas Trobriand en la obra de Malinowski?
-Las islas Trobriand fueron el lugar donde Malinowski llevó a cabo su famosa investigación participante, lo que le permitió obtener una perspectiva única y detallada sobre la vida y costumbres de sus habitantes.
¿Cómo describió Malinowski a los nativos en sus diarios privados después de su publicación en 1967?
-En sus diarios privados, Malinowski se describió a sí mismo como alguien con tendencias lúdicas, arrogante, mentiroso y a veces racista, lo que contrasta con la imagen pública que había proyectado como científico objetivo.
¿Qué metodología de investigación introdujo Malinowski en la antropología?
-Malinowski introdujo la metodología de la observación participante, que implica vivir entre la comunidad que se estudia y participar en su vida diaria para obtener una comprensión más profunda de su cultura.
¿Cuál fue el impacto de la Primera Guerra Mundial en las investigaciones de Malinowski?
-La Primera Guerra Mundial impactó las investigaciones de Malinowski al dejarlo atrapado en las islas Trobriand por cuatro años, lo que延长了他的 estancia de campo y profundizó su investigación, aunque también lo dejó aislado de su hogar y familia.
¿Cómo describió Malinowski la cultura de los nativos en comparación con la sociedad europea de su tiempo?
-Malinowski argumentó que, a pesar de las diferencias superficiales, los nativos tenían una complejidad social y cultural similar a la de la sociedad europea, con estructuras familiares y rituales que cumplían funciones esenciales en su sociedad.
¿Qué teoría presentó Malinowski sobre la función de las culturas humanas?
-Malinowski presentó la teoría del funcionalismo, que sostiene que todas las culturas tienen un propósito y que cada costumbre cumple una función en la sociedad para satisfacer las necesidades básicas de los individuos.
¿Cómo cambió la publicación de los diarios privados de Malinowski la percepción de su legado en la antropología?
-La publicación de los diarios privados de Malinowski generó controversia y cuestionó su reputación, ya que reveló sus propias prejuicios y falta de empatía hacia los nativos, lo que contrastaba con su imagen como pionero de una nueva perspectiva en la antropología.
¿Qué rol jugó el apego de Malinowski a la cultura británica en su vida y en su trabajo?
-El apego de Malinowski a la cultura británica influenció su deseo de ser parte de la aristocracia y su enfoque en la antropología, buscando comprender y ser aceptado en una sociedad que admiraba pero también temía por su refinamiento y elegancia.
¿Cómo describió Malinowski el ritual de 'kula' y su importancia en la sociedad trobriand?
-Malinowski describió el ritual de 'kula' como una red de intercambio de objetos de concha que simbolizaban poder y prestigio, y que eran esenciales para reforzar el estatus de los jefes tribales y hombres de rango.
Outlines
🧐 La revolución antropológica de Malinowski
Bronisław Malinowski es considerado uno de los más grandes antropólogos, cuya visita inicialmente breve a las islas de Papua Nueva Guinea se transformó en una estancia de cuatro años. Su inmersión en la vida de los nativos, lejos de los asentamientos coloniales, revolucionó la antropología al desafiar las nociones victorianas del 'salvaje simple'. Sin embargo, la publicación de sus diarios privados en 1967 reveló un lado oscuro del hombre, mostrando su complejidad y contradicciones.
📚 La búsqueda de aceptación y prestigio
Londres 1910, Malinowski, un joven polaco de origen humilde pero con aspiraciones altas, llega a la ciudad con la ambición de integrarse en la aristocracia británica. Fascinado por la estructura social de Inglaterra, aspiraba a ser parte de la clase alta y su inteligencia excepcional sería su principal herramienta para alcanzar su objetivo de convertirse en un eminente académico.
🌏 El estudio de antropología y la crítica a las teorías de la época
Malinowski se interesó por la antropología, una disciplina poco entendida en ese momento, que buscaba clasificar las culturas exóticas y 'bárbaras' que el Imperio Británico encontraba en su expansión. Criticó las teorías de los 'antropólogos de butaca', quienes formulaban teorías basadas en relatos de viajeros y misioneros sin una comprensión profunda de las culturas estudiadas, y decidió que la antropología necesitaba un enfoque más científico.
🤔 La introspección y la búsqueda de la verdad
Malinowski, con su meticulosa introspección y su mente científica, se propuso cambiar la antropología con un enfoque más riguroso. Su obsesiva búsqueda de la perfección y su análisis de sí mismo, combinados con su salud precaria y sus complejos, lo llevaron a ser un observador meticuloso, capaz de desentrañar los verdaderos aspectos de las culturas que estudiaba.
🌴 La vida en las islas Trobriand y la observación participante
Al llegar a las islas Trobriand, Malinowski tuvo una revelación tras observar una ceremonia llamada 'yoba', que le mostró la importancia de no confiar únicamente en lo que los nativos decían, sino en lo que él mismo observaba. Esto llevó a su técnica de observación participante, viviendo entre los nativos y aprendiendo su idioma, para comprender mejor su cultura.
💔 La soledad y el impacto emocional del trabajo de campo
La primera Guerra Mundial dejó a Malinowski atrapado en las islas, lo cual, aunque le permitió profundizar en su estudio de la cultura trobriand, también lo dejó aislado y lejos de su hogar. Esta soledad, junto con su pasión por las mujeres locales y sus conflictos internos, lo llevó a enfrentarse a su propia turbulencia emocional.
🔄 El descubrimiento del Kula y su significado
Malinowski se topó con la tradición del Kula, un intercambio de objetos de concha que parecía sin sentido a simple vista pero que, al estudiarlo en profundidad, reveló una red compleja de intercambios que reforzaba el estatus de los jefes y hombres de rango, mostrando la sofisticación y la importancia de esta práctica en la sociedad trobriand.
📖 La publicación de 'Argonauts of the Western Pacific'
Después de cuatro años de trabajo de campo, Malinowski publicó 'Argonauts of the Western Pacific', donde presentó sus hallazgos y desafió las percepciones estereotipadas de los 'salvajes', mostrando que las sociedades indígenas eran complejas y racionales, y que sus costumbres tenían una función en la sociedad.
🌐 La teoría del funcionalismo y su impacto en la antropología
Malinowski propuso el funcionalismo, una teoría que argumentaba que todas las culturas tienen un propósito y que cada costumbre cumple una función en la sociedad. Esta idea fue revolucionaria y cambió la forma en que se veía no solo a las culturas 'primitivas', sino también a la sociedad occidental.
🏆 La consolidación del método de observación participante
Malinowski estableció el método de observación participante como una práctica estándar en la antropología, lo que significó que los antropólogos debían inmersarse en la cultura que estudiaban para comprenderla plenamente. Este enfoque ha perdurado y sigue siendo fundamental en la disciplina.
💼 Malinowski y su legado en la antropología moderna
A pesar de las controversias surgidas tras la publicación de sus diarios privados, que mostraron su lado más oscuro y prejuicios, el legado de Malinowski en la antropología sigue siendo significativo. Su enfoque innovador y su contribución a la comprensión de las culturas humanas siguen siendo fundamentales en la disciplina.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Antropología
💡Bronislaw Malinowski
💡Observación participante
💡Kula
💡Funcionalismo
💡Victoriano
💡Diarios privados
💡Cultural relativismo
💡Trobriand Islands
💡Armchair anthropology
Highlights
Bronislaw Malinowski's fieldwork in Papua New Guinea revolutionized anthropology by challenging Victorian notions of 'savages'.
Malinowski lived among the natives, departing from the colonial settlements, to gain a deeper understanding of their culture.
His work overturned the simplistic view of 'primitive' societies, showing them as complex and rational like Western societies.
Malinowski's private diaries, published in 1967, revealed a more complex and controversial side of him, including instances of racism and arrogance.
He was driven by a desire for acceptance and prestige, aiming to be part of the British upper class.
Malinowski's scientific background in maths and physics equipped him with the rigor needed to transform anthropology.
His fieldwork in the Trobriand Islands led to the development of the 'participant observation' method, a cornerstone of modern anthropology.
Malinowski's study of the Kula exchange system demonstrated the social and economic significance of seemingly trivial customs.
His work showed that the Trobrianders were not 'savages' but sophisticated beings with complex social structures.
Malinowski's theory of functionalism proposed that all cultural practices serve a purpose and function in society.
He believed that understanding different cultures could help reflect on and improve our own society.
Malinowski's personal struggles, including his mother's death, affected his work and emotional state during his fieldwork.
His work in anthropology was not just academic but also deeply personal, reflecting his own introspective nature and desire for perfection.
Malinowski's influence extended beyond his lifetime, shaping the field of anthropology and its methods.
The publication of his diaries sparked debates about the ethical implications of anthropological research and the personal biases of researchers.
Malinowski's legacy includes not only his contributions to anthropology but also the challenges his personal diaries pose to his scholarly image.
Transcripts
the story of bronislav malinowski is one
of the greatest tales in anthropology
almost a hundred years ago his short
visit to some remote islands of papua
new guinea turned into a four year
odyssey
here malinowski started a revolution in
anthropology
he left behind the colonial settlements
to live cheek by jowl with the natives
his experience would overturn the
victorian notion of the simple savage
and transform the way we look at our own
society
but with the publication of his private
diaries in 1967
a complex truth about the man began to
come out
who really was malinowski
and what drove him to become the founder
and hero of modern social anthropology
[Music]
in 1942 at yale university some battered
notebooks were found on top of a
cupboard
they were the private diaries of
bronislav malinowski
the man who founded modern social
anthropology
for a further 25 years these diaries
were a closely guarded secret
until 1967 when their publications sent
shockwaves through the world of
anthropology
[Music]
his attitude was
rather unpleasant and rather superior
and not an ideal model for younger
anthropologists
the diaries from this hero
was shown to have feet of clay to be a
lustful
indiscreet arrogant
lying
racist at times
he was all the things that he that they
wished he wasn't
the diaries laid bare the dark side of a
revered academic figure
this film reveals a man driven close to
the edge of reason in his passionate
pursuit not only of a new science but of
his own power and prestige
[Music]
london 1910
the bustling hub of the british empire
and the greatest city in the world
that march a poor but well-born young
pole arrived and fell in love
[Music]
my anglo-mania has become something more
akin to a mystic cult worshiping at the
altar of british culture
[Music]
fascinated by england's social structure
malinowski desired to be part of the
upper classes
i both admire and fear the english way
of life
it's elegance and
refinement
indeed
they are the very aristocracy of the
nations
a highly superior nation where one is
only tolerated if one is amusing
[Music]
his surviving daughter and
great-grandson bear out his desire for
acceptance
there's a photograph of him at the
dinner party and he's obviously very
pleased that he's with sir thingamy and
lord whatnot and the duchess of blah and
[Music]
who's to blame him
you okay well you're an american you
can't help yourself
[Music]
without personal wealth to help him on
his way malinowski would have to rely on
the one thing he did have
brains
[Music]
i am determined that i shall be accepted
into this aristocracy
and the one thing i have to profit is my
extraordinary intellect
is this that will make me important
i shall be an eminent scholar
what do you think
[Music]
his brains took him to the london school
of economics where he plumped for the
little understood subject of
anthropology
it means literally the study of man
[Music]
as the british empire expanded it
encountered a world of mysterious tribes
cannibals and curious traditions
the victorians wanted to find a way of
classifying these bizarre and exotic
cultures
collecting objects was part of that
process of making sense of human variety
and the different objects that people
made and used were
indicative in many ways of the sorts of
societies that they had
to victorians the people who made these
objects appeared savage
and what's more these savages performed
magic tattooed their bodies and even
practiced promiscuous sex
their lifestyle sent decent victorian
folk into a spin of moral panic and
terror
and the popular mind a savage was
someone who was at the mercy of their
emotions
wasn't fully in control of the of their
rational thought and therefore were sort
of blown hither and neither by changing
emotional forms
[Music]
right at the heart of the notion of
savagery were both sex and violence
basically
[Music]
the study of these savages and
everything they did was anthropology
its experts were respectable gentlemen
who considered the savage was best
studied from a safe distance
these were known as armchair
anthropologists
people who lived in places like
london oxford new york and and either
didn't travel very much themselves or
didn't travel at all
and what they did was often by writing
letters
was to get a whole series of accounts
from travellers and colonial officials
missionaries around the world about the
customs of the people that they were in
contact with
[Music]
perusing these reports in their
armchairs they formulated a theory on
savage life
the usual idea was
that these people
were so-called primitive people they
were more or less equivalent to the most
ancient of our own ancestors
and so they must represent something
which is the opposite of ourselves
if we are monogamous they must be
promiscuous
if we live in homes they must be nomadic
um
if we are rational people believing all
sorts of rational things they just are
completely enthralled to superstition
believing
um so they are the opposite of ourselves
however we imagine ourselves
off on the trek into the heart of the
never never the expedition is nearing
the country inhabited by the real bad
men of australia wild blacks who have
never seen a flight three historic
beings sprung from a race said to be 500
000 years old
savages seem to be a throwback to a
prehistoric past
and their primitive societies the relics
of man's march towards civilization
almost always it was australian
aboriginal people were seen to be at the
bottom of the the ladder of evolution
and then there were chiefly societies
people like the tahitians and so on who
were part way up and then came the state
societies of the chinese
and then laughable to us a little bit
further up were other european nations
like the italians who are said to be a
bit sort of irrational and emotional and
of course right at the pinnacle of of
evolution where the good old rational
[Music]
in 1910 when malinowski began to study
anthropology it was the australian
aborigines that were under particular
scrutiny
reports told of promiscuity and multiple
sexual partners
it was the aborigines apparent lack of
any family structure that confirmed
their place at the base of social
evolution
but malinowski wasn't impressed with
this conclusion
everyone acquainted with ethnographic
information in general and
that of australia and its aborigines in
particular
knows how ambiguous and confused it is
on nearly every point
keen to get ahead in his new line of
work malinowski took a thorough look at
all the data on aboriginal family life
he looks at all this material at the
australian material he looks at censuses
he looks at photographs
he um looks at descriptions of who are
interacting with whom in the villages
and his research led him to a radically
different conclusion
[Music]
he says well look whatever these people
are telling you
it's quite clear that they are living in
something very much like what we would
call families you have a man with one or
two sometimes three women whom he's
living with on long-term basis
over whom he has more or less exclusive
rights of various kinds including sexual
rights
their children are very close to him
they live together in one
or two adjoining huts they cook together
they eat together well that's a family
it looks like a family it talks about
some family even if it doesn't call
itself a family
this initial research confirmed his view
that anthropology was riddled with
prejudices and lacked rigor
malinowski was one of those who
concluded that anthropology needed a
strong dose of scientific discipline
and with a degree in maths and physics
he had exactly the right credentials
the work of scientifically trained
observers
like myself
once seriously applied to anthropology
will yield results of surpassing value
so far it has been done solely by
amateurs
and therefore done on the whole
indifferently
[Music]
not only was malinowski a scientist
but his peculiarly obsessive personality
was ideally suited to the task ahead
[Music]
malinowski's life was one long struggle
for personal perfection both mentally
and physically
particularly from reading the diaries i
i thought
that he had this really introspective
side where he was i mean i thought his
diary
i think he saw it as a tool he was a
perfectionist for himself yeah yes yeah
he wished to make his life perfect if he
could
he meticulously scrutinized every aspect
of himself
with me the extremism in self-analysis
is pathological
and it leads towards a morbid
exaggeration
first there was his alarmist obsession
with health
he's such a hypochondriac
pill bottles everywhere do you think
that comes from
being sick as a child i think he was
born
born hypochondriac perhaps it's around
one word but it's possible
you know he's he's obviously a sensitive
being you know
putting it mildly
his nervous disposition was so extreme
that malinovsky relied on the somewhat
dubious panacea of the time
regular injections of arsenic
there were also the intricacies of
malinowski's complex mind
there is a craving in me for the
sensational for the abnormal
i suspect ill of others
and imagine dreadful possibilities
he says on one occasion
is i have a fear of pointed objects
sticker phobia i call it
and fur he didn't like
touching fur coats or anything like that
velvet
and anything slippery mud
several times a day he'd rub his hands
with hot water and soap
in short
i suffer from a mania of paranoia and
persecution
and all this was hand in hand with my
poor health and my bad nerves
that perhaps the one feeds upon the
other
malinowski's obsessive analysis of
himself
combined with his scientific mind would
make him the man that could change
anthropology
[Music]
by 1914 the more forward thinking of the
profession were keen on their students
taking the equivalent of an
anthropological gap year
[Music]
for malinovsky this consisted of a grand
tour of australia and its remote
territories
[Music]
leaving behind his beloved mother he set
off on a busy schedule with many
stop-offs
after three months malinowski reached
papua new guinea
[Music]
even today it is a wild looking land of
jungle swamp and mysterious cultures
popular imagination i suppose pepper was
a
was a dark
cannibal ridden
a savage place
i mean a real redoubt of savages
the government was forced saying how
difficult it was you know to pacify this
place
travel writers were reporting on it as
being a rather malaria-ridden
unhealthy place for europeans but
fascinating with these colorful customs
and colorful natives
this dark place was the essence of all
things primitive and a dream come true
for the young anthropologist
but being a sickly self-obsessed
hypochondriac papua new guinea was also
malinowski's own private hell
he knew he was entering into a dangerous
place what word am i thinking more than
anything else was the heat
i have a strong fear of the tropics and
abhorrence of
heat saltiness
over text heart nervousness
there is taste in my mouth and pain
behind my eyes i think i may vomit if i
do i'm sure it is tuberculosis
now perhaps the lack of exercise is at
the root of this condition
or the thin food
i must get more exercise especially in
the morning
and in the evening
arsenic is indispensable but i must not
exaggerate the queening
also a somewhat congested nose and
throat
i'm beginning to believe the hypothesis
that i'm about to die
[Music]
malinowski was expected to tour around
studying a number of different tribes
but off the east coast of papua on the
far-flung archipelago of the trobriand
islands he came to a crucial realization
it was an insight that would help him
transform anthropology
early one morning malinowski joined the
local islanders to watch an ancient
custom
the natives had told him that this was a
sacred ceremony called yoba
with drums and chants they send the
spirits of their ancestors called the
baloma back to a sacred afterworld
the natives reports seem to suggest that
yoba was a solemn occasion which
everyone took very seriously
but that's not what malinowski saw
the priest directing the ritual
is on his own in a corner muttering away
the prayers
and incantations that he's been told and
most of the people are not paying the
blind
blind bit of attention to him
[Music]
everybody just walked off
the only ones left to chase off the
baloma were myself five or six urchins
and ginger the cook and very undignified
we were too
they're chattering away
laughing they're looking after their
children and he says there are a whole
lot of children whosing around small
boys making a big fuss terribly
overexcited
yoga is undoubtedly important but
in its performance it bears no trace of
sanctity or solemnity it was not so much
a religious proceeding
it was a party
the reality he observed bore no relation
to the reports he'd heard of natives
being in awe of the ancient spirits
it was a critical moment for malinowski
i suddenly realized with astounding
clarity
that to understand people you cannot
rely upon what they say they do
instead you must rely upon yourself
watching and seeing
what they do
you realize that people tell you one
thing but do something else not because
they're lying to you
but they're just like a football player
who's giving who tells you explains the
rules of football to you
but isn't really giving you an insight
into how he plays football or into the
tactics and strategy which he probably
can't articulate very well but which can
act out for you which you can see in
action
malinowski realized that anthropology's
tradition of relying only on what other
people say was shockingly flawed
if he was going to fully understand
trobriand culture he would have to get
much closer to native life
[Music]
so instead of traveling on malinowski
decided to stay in the trobriand islands
he gave up his lodgings with the local
colonists and pitched a tent in a
village right amongst the natives
[Music]
malinowski decides to come down from the
veranda go into the village and pitch
his tent there and it's so important
that because
he wanted to move away from the idea of
just having locals come to him to answer
his set of questions a questionnaire
framed in terms of his categories his
understandings his priorities
malinowski wasn't just moving in he
would immerse himself in every detail of
trobriand life in order to get to the
truth about their native culture
as the natives see me every day they
stop being interested or alarmed or even
self-conscious in my presence
i have become part and parcel of their
life
a necessary evil mitigated by regular
donations of tobacco
by living with the natives and taking
part in village life
i am learning the natives point of view
his relation to life and thereby his
vision of the world
from now on malinowski wouldn't be a
mere observer by learning the local
language he would become a participant
observer
malinowski was good at participant
observation because he was such a
determined dog-eared character i think
he realized during his field work that
this was the way forward that he had a
revolutionary technique on his hands
this is going to change anthropology
forever it's going to set a completely
new precedent
[Music]
but what he didn't yet realize was that
he'd also started his own personal
odyssey events conspired to make this
one of the longest field trips ever
[Music]
in 1914 world war one broke out
the british empire was at war with
germany
and what changes things from asking is
this accident being caught in australia
during world war one i and it's really
an extraordinary moment
with europe in chaos his camping trip
would last longer than a few months
apart from the odd trip to australia
malinowski now felt abandoned alone in
the jungle with only the so-called
savages for company
the sun is almost
dipping into the perfectly still lagoon
the woman next door has begun her
wailing
and it is also inexpressibly sad in its
remoteness and detachment from my life
[Music]
i am stranded here
far from all that makes life bearable
[Music]
it is as if i have no place to return to
but there was an upside
forced isolation would allow him time to
really uncover the truth about trobrian
culture
and soon he was getting very close to
the natives indeed
[Music]
a pretty finely built girl walked ahead
of me
i watched the muscles of her back
her figure her legs and the beauty of
her body so hidden to us why it's
fascinated me
at times
i was sorry i was not a savage and could
not possess this little animal
[Music]
for a man who prided himself on
objective precision in his work
malinowski's love life was a chaotic
shambles
[Music]
he would
feel
great gusts of passion and he'd be
jealous at the slightest hint of any
infidelity
very very powerful infatuation screwball
like crushes if you like
he fell in love with every woman i'm
always thinking this is the one yeah i
mean you know the way he writes about
each woman you know i mean you know this
passion and but then there's you know
so many of them you know which one am i
talking about today
you know and at the same time
it's like this mix of being a complete
sort of lecherous yes uh fool and
this romantic people know
you know deeply feels every relationship
this man filmed in the 70s remembered
malinowski's stay in his village
whatever actually happened his gusts of
passion were met with equal gusts of
remorse
even when visiting australia where he
had two girlfriends including his
fiancee elsie he couldn't keep his eyes
off a third
i sat up with one of the older women
she is not stupid but neither is she
cultured
however i found myself
undressing her in my mind and
calculating how long it would take me to
bed her
in short
i betrayed elsie in my mind
and as for mother
i cannot bear to think of her missing me
i am appalled by my lack of moral fiber
my own death would be the best way out
of this model
despite this inner turmoil his work of
participant observation was about to pay
off
six months after arriving malinowski
began to study an ancient tradition that
really intrigued him
he noted that every few months islanders
would build fleets of elaborately
decorated canoes as part of a tradition
known as kula
[Music]
for cooler they set out on voyages
leaving behind friends and family for
months at a time
[Music]
and cooler voyages from neighboring
islands would be awaited with great
anticipation
what you would see over the horizon
these tiny tiny canoes
converging until there might be 60 or 80
or possibly a hundred
you'll suddenly see people on the island
start going into the sea
to meet these canoes and as the canoes
come nearer the people going into the
sea will recognize
individuals on the canoes
[Music]
cooler visitors were treated to great
feasts attracting hundreds of locals to
these celebrations
[Music]
particularly striking were the risks the
islanders were prepared to take for
cooler
as malinowski himself discovered late
one night sailing between islands
we passed very close by a coral island
the sea
smashing against the rocks the islanders
were all shouting trying to control the
craft i was terrified
i started to think of elsie sleeping
peacefully and that i might never see
her again
once the crews of a whole fleet of
trobriant canoes were captured killed
and eaten by the inhabitants of unknown
villages and let's not forget the petals
of simply sailing these seas
the reefs sand banks and coral rocks
waiting to smash the fragile canoes
the horror of it
all in the pursuit of kula
these islanders it seemed risked
everything for cooler
and strangest of all the reward for
these perilous journeys was the exchange
of flimsy shell trinkets
cooler was time consuming and dangerous
all for something that seemed apparently
pointless
malinowski made it his goal to discover
what it was about cooler that was worth
risking your life for
over the following months he explored
cooler from every angle
he questioned the locals
watched the rituals
and tried to make sense of it all
gradually the secrets of cooler began to
unfold
there is such
nonchalance in the men arriving for kura
a nonchalance in the old men receiving
them
they come they sit on the canoe they
chatter and
haggle give in
i eat my rice and kippers and read my
kipling
we talk some more
and gradually i managed to drag out the
information i'm after
the information that he dragged out of
the locals revealed a complex and
sophisticated
ritual first there were the people who
took part
[Music]
only important
men could could actually afford to go on
a cola expedition partly because this
meant commissioning a commissioning a
canoe so it meant some sort of outplay
malinowski soon discovered that cooler
was almost exclusive to the tribal
chiefs and men of rank
these vips were connected by cooler to a
social network that reached far beyond
the trobriand islands
and at the heart of cooler were the
shell trinkets
in order to establish relationships with
other people
you have to sub relationships with
something
and these valuables
are the means through which you
establish relationships
and this means
that people go on large expeditions to
go and fetch valuables from elsewhere
they receive people who bring valuables
to them and the result is if you if you
link up all these relationships suddenly
you find you're in a huge chain
of relationships and this chain of
relationships actually spreads
across a large island
area
malinowski uncovered a complex network
of cooler exchange
covering 12 island groups spanning 200
miles of ocean
he also discovered why the shell
necklaces and bracelets were so highly
prized
each one had a value that came from its
unique history as it passed from person
to person
and from island to island
the value of each object lay in the
renown of its former owners
this is a history of relationships and
what he wants to know is who has had
this before
and to whom he's going to and when he
passes it on his his own name will in a
sense
be part of the history
of of the item
so these weren't simply shell trinkets
each chain of shells was a potent symbol
of power and prestige
malinowski's participant observation had
revealed that far from being pointless
cooler played a vital role in trobrian
society reinforcing the status of the
rich and famous
this is quite a ranked society
and poorer people simply didn't enter
into the kula exchanges so this was
renown and prestige that were there for
those who already had renown and
prestige
i mean sounds familiar
and like a trophy one in battle owning a
piece of cooler
made you a hero
living with the natives for two years
had paid off
malinowski had revealed that an
apparently meaningless native custom
was in reality significant and crucial
to trobrian society
but his discovery came at some personal
cost
on the 11th of june 1918 after four
years away from home
malinovsky received bad news
his beloved mother had died
do not know how i should live through
the immediate future
my life has changed completely
i am cutting through it
the link between my past and my presence
is broken
my life will be forever incomplete
and he stopped writing his diary
he went crying into the bushes
this was a sort of heart of darkness for
him
[Music]
i am alone
[Music]
my heart is pierced with grief now that
mother has gone
everything is now permeated with her
i know i have a
void a black abyss in my soul
all i desire is to die
to go to mother
to join her
in nothingness
[Applause]
deliverance came in november 1918.
the war was over
malinowski could at last return to
europe
[Applause]
in 1922 malinowski published his field
work
argonauts of the western pacific
his detailed descriptions revealed a
fresh perspective of the natives
his message is
they might look very different they
might live in a better climate they
might have more interesting sex lives
but they're very like you and me
[Music]
into his world dominated by class
imperialism and crude racial stereotypes
malinowski introduced the radical idea
that these savages were in fact
sophisticated and rational human beings
the islanders are just like us
conniving
manipulative
industrious
like any viennese businessman
and the constitution of the tribe is
subject to a strict code of behavior and
social niceties
in comparison with which
life at the court of versailles would
seem free and easy
[Music]
is giving a real breathing talking
plausible human being
in place of this old stereotype savage
is just the opposite of what you are
and this plausible human being at
malinowski he's giving you it's not
somebody you admire particularly
necessary any more than you admire your
next-door neighbor but you you recognize
him
i can see what he's up to i can
understand it makes sense to me
because he's rather like me in many ways
[Music]
not only were trobrianders just like us
but behind the apparent strange native
customs their societies were every bit
as complex as our own
[Music]
when i returned to europe i visited
edinburgh castle and was shown the crown
jewels
the curator told stories about how
they'd been worn by this or that king on
such and such an occasion
and as i was looking at them
and thinking how intrinsically tawdry
they were
i had the feeling something similar had
been told me of late
and suddenly there rose before my eyes
the image of a native village on coral
soil and of a brown naked man showing me
long red strings and
worn out objects greasy to the touch and
these strawberry and vegua valuables
are cherished and revered in exactly the
same way as those crown jewels purely
for the historical sentiment that
surrounds them
and malinowski went further
just as cooler shells were equivalent to
our crown jewels
acquiring them was equal to our heroic
sporting victories
[Applause]
and he believed these cultural
similarities applied right across the
globe
shamanism and magic were similar to our
grand religions
maori tattoos were like medals of
achievement
malinowski was very clever because what
he did in a way was he civilized the
savage and savage the civilized
he showed that that they weren't
irrational that they just had different
cultural rules to ours
to many what malinowski was proposing
was nothing short of revolutionary
humanity was the same the world over
and he thought he could reveal why with
a big new idea in anthropology
[Music]
malinowski believed that he'd discovered
the engine that drove all human cultures
and that engine could be found right at
the heart of all of us
what is the deepest essence of my
investigations
the discovery of the native's passions
his motives his aims his essential way
of thinking
and it is at this point that i am
confronted with my own problems
my self-analysis leads me to ask
what is essential in me
he said that everybody everywhere is
driven by the same passions
hunger
fear
vanity
sex
what he began to propose was that all
human cultures had a purpose
every custom could be interpreted as
serving a function in society
and that rituals have evolved to satisfy
our basic needs
he called his theory functionalism
it could be applied to all societies
however sophisticated or apparently
primitive
[Music]
and when malinowski's functionalism was
applied to our own society it promised a
whole new way of seeing our familiar
world
[Music]
today sophie is four years old
she's having a birthday party
[Music]
at first sight a toddler's birthday
party is just about the toddlers it's
all of them having fun and it's about
and it's about gift-giving
in fact there is a deeper social
function to sophie's party
[Music]
in fact of course if you look at it
there's a lot more going on as who's
really inviting home
and there are very clear decisions as to
who is being invited on what basis
[Music]
there's a sense of social obligation if
you have a group of mothers who have
been invited to a toddler's party well
they should feel obliged to invite that
toddler back to theirs
[Music]
malinowski is pointing out how
culturally constituted are so many of
the activities and the ways in which we
live which we would otherwise think are
just purely natural it's the way we do
things
by unraveling different cultures
malinowski had made us reflect more
objectively upon ourselves and our own
society
are we so superior are we so different
don't we just have a large number of
cultural rules by which we order our
society it's just that we start off on
different premises
by 1927 only nine years after leaving
the trobrians
the charismatic young professor was
leading his own department at lse
brilliant autocratic and temperamental
malinowski had a dramatic impact on all
those who came under his spell
people i knew who his students all the
men
hated him
argued with him
but were obsessed with him
the women loved him without exception
all his women students adored him
he used his influence to revolutionize
anthropology
from now on malinowski introduced
the new apprenticeship announcement you
couldn't be an anthropologist in britain
after malinowski without going and doing
a year or two years as a participant of
a observer learning the language in some
pretty exotic part of the world it
became
the initiation ceremony without which
you were never going to be a
professional
and a whole generation of his disciples
spread out across the world promoting
this new anthropology
[Music]
with his success malinowski had finally
finished off victorian anthropology
after malinowski
there was no more of the old armchair
anthropology in british as
it really was like turning a switch that
was the end of this in britain
[Music]
kate fox is a modern day anthropologist
like malinowski she is a participant
observer relying on total immersion in
another culture
traditionally anthropologists are
supposed to do their research like
malinowski did in sort of remote
uncomfortable places with lots of dirt
and dysentery and malaria and mud huts
and so on and i have a bit of a problem
with that because i have sort of
pathetic wimpish aversion to all that
dirt and dysentery and
horrible
killer insects and primitive sanitation
and so on i like to do my research in
cultures with indoor plumbing and where
you can
get a glass of champagne or a decent cup
of tea and do a bit of retail therapy
when the natives start getting on your
nerves that kind of thing
so malinowski would not approve
but anyway participant observation
method is the same wherever you use it
um and essentially i do
in this culture exactly what malinowski
was doing in the tropius
for three years kate visited the horse
races living with the racing tribe
she has faced many of the same problems
that malinowski confronted when he
arrived in the trobriand islands
i think everything about this tribe
confused me at the beginning
you know you walk in here through the
gates you don't know what's going on
everyone is apparently milling about you
know in no particular
with no structure no form to it and you
have no idea what's going on
but certain rules gradually became clear
the sort of tribal
greeting introduction ritual
um i actually that you find out very
quickly you know if you go to the races
you'll find it out your first time the
races i did
the rule is essentially the unwritten
rule is that anyone can basically go up
to anyone and say what do you fancy in
the next it's a kind of standard it's a
bit like the english say oh nice day
isn't it or make some comment on the web
whether we all know that that's a
conversation starter it's not a sort of
request for meteorological data and when
you say to someone at the races what do
you fancy in the 230 you're not really
asking about the horses in the in that
particular race you're saying i'd like
to talk to you will you talk to me and
the response is almost invariably yes
the more she stayed and watched the more
secrets she discovered
at first there seemed to be a formal
tribal hierarchy
stewards and officials were the tribal
chiefs and elders
they set the rules
horse trainers credited with performing
miracles if a horse won were the revered
shamans and witch doctors
but she noticed that at the bottom of
the pile the tribal structure didn't
quite match what she'd heard from the
natives
people would tell me that jockeys you
know are a lower
rank of citizens because you know they
touch their caps when they come in
you'll notice when they come into the
parade ring they touch the cat
to the owner and the trainer
but as kate was watching the small men
in their bright silks a different
picture started to emerge
you see i've been told that jockeys were
you know kind of servants you know that
they were the lowest rung of the sort of
owner trainer jockey hierarchy
um
but actually when you watch them come in
you know they look well aware of their
exalted status you know they're sort of
twirling their
whips and doing this kind of fanfare
announcing their arrival
the owners and trainers immediately all
their attention is focused
on the jockey if you look at people's
feet all the feet are always pointing
towards the jockey
feet are the most honest part of our
body because we're not aware of what
we're signaling and the owners are kind
of leaning down to catch the sort of
pearls of wisdom and actually the jockey
is mostly sort of uttering you know
non-threatening diplomatic platitudes um
but but you know his audience is
riveted participant observation revealed
jockeys were respected and admired
despite the formal racing hierarchy
in this tribe
they are if you like the equivalent of
the young warriors the young braves
a very special elite group
although they hold no formal political
power their talents have a higher value
than wealth or official authority
80 years since malinowski invented
participant observation it still has the
power to reveal fresh insights into
human culture
[Applause]
i mean this is essentially i think my
malinowski is right and you do have to
spend a lot of time
because it's not until you've kind of
hung out and wandered around you know
for
quite a lot a lot of time before you
realize you start to see the patterns
in what's happening in the behavior
um
and that there isn't a particular
technique for doing that it's just
hanging out um
i think someone's called it anthropology
or participant observation deep hanging
out
and i quite like that term because
that's that's exactly what it is you're
hanging out but it's a bit more than
that
participant observation is malinowski's
greatest legacy to anthropology
you see
i relied not only on what these savages
said they did
but on observing exactly what they did
and there lies the essence of my work
[Music]
malinowski's work brought him the status
and glory he'd craved for so desperately
all his life
and earned him professorships in britain
and america
[Music]
bronislav malinowski
died an establishment figure in 1942
founder and hero of modern social
anthropology
then in 1967
came something that brought malinowski's
reputation into question
his personal diaries were published
the man who'd elevated our understanding
of native cultures seem to be every bit
as prejudiced as the victorian
anthropology he'd so criticized
last night i looked in vain for the
fellows from my boat
and again this morning
nowhere to be seen
suddenly i am driven into a state of
white rage and hatred for bronze colored
skin
some believe these outbursts severely
tarnish malinowski's reputation
when i first read the diaries i was
shocked by the attitude that malinowski
reveals they contain a very damaging
picture i think still but particularly
at the time of malinowski's personality
on one occasion i made a joke
and one of the bloody [ __ ] made a
disapproving remark how dare he
how dare he talk to me in such a manner
how dare he a [ __ ] find something in
me to disapprove of
why spend your whole life
writing books and
finding a discipline
if you are not interested in the people
you're meant to be studying
those who support malinowski
point out that it isn't only the natives
that he insults
another way of looking at it which is to
say malinowski
is angry at all sorts of people
and very intemperate
about the australian administrators
about his colleagues about some of his
friends everybody is attacked and above
all about himself
nobody is criticized more
fully and openly and completely than
himself so malnowski's use of
intemperate language
is universal
but perhaps his diaries reveal a truth
at the heart of all anthropology
for all his attempts at scientific
objectivity malinowski was like every
one of us a prisoner of his own time and
culture with all its prejudices
malinowski would no doubt be gratified
to know that he continues both to
intrigue and outrage
but one thing of which he was certain
was his great significance and
contribution to posterity
he really did believe
that he was profit of a whole new way of
thinking about human beings he sometimes
called it the new humanism
he really did feel this was terribly
important for humanity for this new
thing
and a lot of his students believed it
too
and they were it was very exciting
[Music]
because of my work
the study of anthropology
so often mistaken for mere hunting after
curious
or a ramble through the savage shapes of
barbara's custom
crude superstition
anthropology might become one of the
most
deeply philosophic enlightening and
elevating disciplines of scientific
research
you
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