The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia
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| In fact, eating is rather a means of social division and discrimination than a way of bringing people together. To begin with, distinctions of rank are marked by food taboos. People of the highest rank are practically constrained to eat within their own circle, and those of a lower status have to forgo part of their normal diet if they eat in the presence of their superiors, in order not to shock them. Table manners are thus a household affair and are not very polished. Food is eaten with the fingers and smacking of lips, noisy expressions of enjoyment and belching are not considered incorrect. To be intently concentrated on one's food and to eat voraciously is, however, thought to be ugly." | In fact, eating is rather a means of social division and discrimination than a way of bringing people together. To begin with, distinctions of rank are marked by food taboos. People of the highest rank are practically constrained to eat within their own circle, and those of a lower status have to forgo part of their normal diet if they eat in the presence of their superiors, in order not to shock them. Table manners are thus a household affair and are not very polished. Food is eaten with the fingers and smacking of lips, noisy expressions of enjoyment and belching are not considered incorrect. To be intently concentrated on one's food and to eat voraciously is, however, thought to be ugly." | ||
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| - | "In their food-collecting and primitive-hunting stage men gained their living collectively ; accordingly they also consumed collectively. When their womanfolk, having noticed the sprouting of seeds, invented primitive planting, thereby gaining a temporary ascendancy socially (in the so-called matriarchate or, more correctly, matrilinear society), collective work as a whole divided along the line of sex. B. Malinowski in his opus magnum reports that in the Trobriands males and females may ..."--Humanist - Volume 73 - Pagina 54, 1958 | + | "In their food-collecting and primitive-hunting stage men gained their living collectively ; accordingly they also consumed collectively. When their womanfolk, having noticed the sprouting of seeds, invented primitive planting, thereby gaining a temporary ascendancy socially (in the so-called matriarchate or, more correctly, matrilinear society), collective work as a whole divided along the line of sex. B. Malinowski in his opus magnum reports that in the Trobriands males and females may ..."--[[The Humanist (magazine)|''The Humanist'']] - Volume 73 - Pagina 54, 1958 |
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"Bronisław Malinowski's trilogy on the Trobrianders consists of Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1922), The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia (1929) and Coral Gardens and Their Magic (1935) . "On the other hand, they would never eat heavy food on such occasions and especially would never carry it with them from the village. To them the idea of European boys and girls going out for a picnic with a knapsack full of eatables is as disgusting and indecent as their kwakwadu would be to a Puritan in our society (see also ch. iii, sec. 4)" "Eating is not regarded as indispensable to life, nor is the value of food as a utility recognized and formulated by the natives. In fact, they have no idea that there is such a thing as physiological need for alimentation, or that the body is built up on food. According to them, one eats because one has appetite, because one is hungry or greedy. The act of eating is very pleasant, and it is a suitable expression of a joyful mood. Large accumulations of food (pi. 84), their formal distribution (sagali) and, at times, their immediate, though not public, consumption form the core of all native festivities and ceremonies. "We shall be glad, we shall eat till we vomit," say the natives, in anticipation of some tribal ceremony or festival. To give food is a, virtuous act. The provider of food, the organizer of many big sagali (distributions) is a great man and a good man. Food is displayed in all forms and on all occasions, and they show great interest in new crops, in a rich yield of garden produce, and in a large catch of fish (see pi. 85). Yet meals are never taken in public, and eating is altogether regarded as a rather dangerous and delicate act. Not only will people never eat in a strange village, but even within the same community the custom of eating in common is limited. After a big distribution, the people retire to their own fireplaces with their portion, each group turning its back on the rest. There is no actual conviviality on a large scale. Even when the big communal cooldng of taro takes place, small groups of related people assemble round the pot which has been allotted to them, and which they have carried away to a secluded spot. There they eat rapidly, no one else witnessing the performance (pi. 86). In fact, eating is rather a means of social division and discrimination than a way of bringing people together. To begin with, distinctions of rank are marked by food taboos. People of the highest rank are practically constrained to eat within their own circle, and those of a lower status have to forgo part of their normal diet if they eat in the presence of their superiors, in order not to shock them. Table manners are thus a household affair and are not very polished. Food is eaten with the fingers and smacking of lips, noisy expressions of enjoyment and belching are not considered incorrect. To be intently concentrated on one's food and to eat voraciously is, however, thought to be ugly." "In their food-collecting and primitive-hunting stage men gained their living collectively ; accordingly they also consumed collectively. When their womanfolk, having noticed the sprouting of seeds, invented primitive planting, thereby gaining a temporary ascendancy socially (in the so-called matriarchate or, more correctly, matrilinear society), collective work as a whole divided along the line of sex. B. Malinowski in his opus magnum reports that in the Trobriands males and females may ..."--The Humanist - Volume 73 - Pagina 54, 1958 |
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The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia (Życie seksualne dzikich w północno-zachodniej Melanezji) is a 1929 book by anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski. It contains ethnographic data that proves that the Freudian Oedipus complex is not universal.
This important work is his second in the trilogy on the Trobrianders, with the other two being Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1922), and Coral Gardens and Their Magic (1935).
Content
In the preface Malinowski says that sexuality "dominates in fact almost every aspect of culture".
Malinowski gives a detailed description of the social organisation of sexuality - social rites, partner choice, et al - "tracing the Trobriand lifecycle from birth through puberty, marriage, and death".
Children don't submit to a system of "domestic coercion" or "regular discipline" - they "enjoy considerable freedom and independence". The idea of a child being "beaten or otherwise punished in cold blood" by a parent is viewed as unnatural and immoral and when proposed by westerners (like the anthropologist) is "rejected with resentment". Things are asked "as from one equal to another; a simple command, implying the expectation of natural obedience, is never heard from parent to child in the Trobriands". The event of a person getting angry and striking another person "in an outburst of rage" sometimes happens but as often from parent to child as from child to parent.
In further chapters, the parent-child relationship of the Trobrianders is described with details of their complex matrilineal relationship structure in which the biological parentage is ignored.
Contents
- The Relations Between the Sexes in Tribal Life
- The Status of Woman in Native Society
- Prenuptial Intercourse; The Avenues to Marriage
- Marriage; Divorce and the Dissolution of Marriage by Death
- Procreation and Pregnancy in Native Belief and Custom
- Pregnancy and Childbirth
- Customary Forms of License
- Love-Making and the Psychology of Erotic Life
- The Magic of Love and Beauty
- Erotic Dreams and Fantasies; Morals and Manners
- A Savage Myth of Incest.
