Magic, Science and Religion and Other Essays - Softcover

Malinowski, Bronislaw

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0285647458 ISBN 13: 9780285647459

Publisher: Souvenir Press, 1982

Synopsis

In the same way that Frazer mapped out new worlds for modern anthropologists by rediscovering a common poetry in the mythologies of cultures, so Malinowski (through his studies of the Melanesian peoples) found a poetry in daily living. By exploring the rhythm of work and ritual among primitive peoples, he reveals essentials about ourselves. The three essays included here, first published in the 1920 s, retain their power to move. In Magic, Science and Religion Malinowski examines the various views of primitive religion (put forth by Frazer and Durkheim among others) and goes on to explore his own theories. Scientific knowledge, he finds, is common to all peoples, even the most primitive but religion and magic are special means by which man in a specific culture reconciles his place in the universe. The second essay, Myth in Primitive Psychology , was written as a tribute to Sir James Frazer, where Malinowski links myth with magic as a source of ethical and philosophical ideas, stressing the changing relationship with the culture that produces it. In the final essay, Baloma , Malinowski describes beliefs found in the Trobriand Islands regarding the spirits of the dead and explains his basic ideas on the functional link between behaviour, belief and society.

About this title

About the Author

Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942) was one of the most important anthropologists of the 20th century who is widely recognized as a founder of social anthropology and principally associated with field studies of the peoples of Oceania.

Edition details

• Publisher: Souvenir Press
• Publication date: 1982
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0285647458
• ISBN 13: 9780285647459
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 275