Malinowski And Functionalism Essay, Research Paper
Malinowski studied the Trobrianders of New Guinea between
1914-1918. He rejected the idea of? remaining apart from their
daily lives, and instead chose to carry out the participant
observation method. He closely observed the activities going on
around him and listened carefully to anecdotes, local gossip etc,
so that he would be able to provide much fuller accounts of
Trobriand life than if he had relied on formal questioning. He was impressed with the fact that the customs, ideas,
artefacts and language of the islanders all served their
biological and psychological needs, and soon learned that the
seemingly useless customs and rituals (e.g. boat-building and
seafaring) did the same. His idea that aspects of culture are
functional in that they fulfil the biological and psychological
(or other) needs of human beings is known as
"Functionalism".? He argued that the existence of
customs, social institutions or social relations should be
interpreted in terms of their function: that is to say, in terms
of their contribution to the satisfaction of "needs"
(both primary physiological and emotional needs and also
secondary or social needs).
? One of the rituals performed by the Trobriands was the
"kula ring", a recurrent exchange of valuable gifts
between the different people of the various Trobriand Islands
chain. This ritual involved members of the society making
dangerous voyages across the seas in canoes in order to
frequently exchange these gifts. Although from an
outsider
pointless, Malinowski learned that it did fit into the idea of
functionalism as this ritual was considered very important,
worthwhile and sacred because it fulfilled the islanders"
social and psychological needs- it allowed them to feel a sense
of power and prestige. There were many rituals that were performed before the canoes
left the islands, and these also served to control various
emotions and psychological needs, such as anxiety, which the
islanders faced before setting off on such journeys. As the
Trobrianders were relatively behind the Western World in terms of
technology, rituals such as the ones performed before the kula
served to bring about a sense of security and power, thus helping
to overcome feelings of powerlessness and tension. Another example of functionalism in this society was the
tradition that involved the chief of the Trobrianders receiving
very large amounts of foods and other tribute from the villagers
whom lived in the area under his reign. The chief was also the
sub-owner of many of the agricultural foodstuffs that these
villagers owned, and claimed many supplies of these which he was
obliged, by custom, to re-distribute at a later stage in the form
of payments for various public services performed by the
villagers at his command. This meant that the villagers were in
fact consuming the products of their own labour, except this was
done after the wealth went through the chief and thus emphasised
and reinforced his control and made his wealth an instrument of
political power in their society.