Malinowski Social Native
Malinowski (1922:25) stated that the primary goal of ethnographic research and social anthropology is “to grasp the native's point of view, his relation to life, to realise his vision of his world”. This concept of cultural relativism is vital in terms of researching foreign cultures, where the pitfalls of ethnocentrism and prejudice are rife. As outlined by McGee and Warms (1995), Malinowski believed that, in regards to the goals of social anthropology, societies and cultural institutions are organised and exist to satisfy various human needs. People's varying institutions (such as their social and economic structures) have specific functions that exist to attend to those varying physical and psychological needs, where shared community perspectives comprised of shared values and cultural attitudes generates and maintains group cohesion and integration (Bonvillain, 2006). Concepts such as these in part can serve to address his statement that the goal of social anthropology therefore is to ‘grasp the “natives” point of view”. The “natives” point of view would be the opinions and practises of the individuals in the cultural system under analysis - the scope of Malinowski's inquiry focused upon how individuals pursue their own needs by utilising these practises and norms within the framework of differing cultural constraints (McGee and Warms, 1995). Malinowski's emphasis on the role of the individual feelings, motives and the pursuit of personal benefit via cultural institutions is outlined by Bonvillain (2006), in that all independent cultural behaviours, attitudes and morals can be explained by conceptualising their position in the maintenance of societal cohesion. This essay will attempt to show the importance of the individual's point of view and agency, in terms of the role individuals in a culture contribute to the creation and maintenance of social and cultural thought that serves to generate a cohesive society. The theoretical approaches of functionalism, transactionalism and interpretive anthropology appear to be theories that are closest to achieving Malinowski's goal of grasping ‘the “natives point of view”.
Malinowski's contributions to social anthropology tend to be thought of as his development of psychological functionalism, the anthropological method, and his insights into Trobriand life (Malinowski, 1922). As outlined by Malinowski (1922:25), the anthropological method of conducting ethnographic fieldwork should consist of steps that highlight the importance of individual needs (such as observing and documenting social customs and “imponderabilia” of daily life and a “collection of characteristic narratives” that include folk-lore and magical formulae), whereby the feelings, motives and viewpoints of individuals (or “natives”) are vital in terms of understanding the functioning of their respective society. His theory of culture (lecture; “Functionalism”) asserts that the biological and psychological needs of man serve to shape and dictate the direction of culture, where culture serves to satisfy individuals' “subjective desire of feeling” (Malinowski, 1922:25) rather than society per se. As outlined by Hatch (1973:278), Malinowski's theory posited that cultural institution are created by collective individuals and function as vehicles for expression, where “the motivation behind the individual's participation in a cultural system consists largely in ambition and self-interest”. Motives and feelings govern individual behaviour and thought, comprising our points of view about the world and the societies that we live in - it is in this respect that Malinowski's focus on the agency of the individual in society appears relevant in terms of social anthropology, where functionalism asserts that the foundations of cultural ideals are predominantly based within the structure of individual motivations.
Malinowski's application of psychological functionalism and the importance of individual viewpoints can be seen in his 1922 ethnography of the Trobrianders of New Guinea, where the observation of their “imponderabilia of daily life” (such as individual daily routine, regulations and rules regarding appropriate custom and social life, emotional interactions etc) are shown to be important components of “the real substance of the social fabric…which keep together the family, the clan, the village community” (Malinowski, 1922:19). In keeping with Malinowski's theoretical concept that cultural mores function to serve individual requirements, cultural rules in regards to behaviour and thought are shaped by collective individuals in relation to psychological and biological needs at any given time (i.e. in terms of the “native's” points of view, such as respect, status, social honour, ambition etc). As outlined by Hatch (1973), this personal interest element of motivation highlights the functional relationship between individuals and culture, where the individual's point of view motivates him/her to attain personal needs. For example, Hatch (1973:291) outlines that, in Malinowski's 1922 “Argonauts of the Western Pacific”, the generation and maintenance of social esteem and prestige is a key psychological need seen in individual Trobrianders and across Trobriand society. Hatch (1973:292) outlines that these individual pursuits of the need for social honour gave rise to the construction of social norms such as the overproduction of crops and the act of generous gift giving, which in turn generates prestige and social wealth where “generosity brings renown”. The individual finds the convention of generosity profitable in terms of fulfilling personal needs, so it is adhered to - in Malinowski's functionalism, culture is Culture hardly needs to be imposed on the individual, for it is a complex instrumental apparatus which the individiual uses in his everyday affairs.pg number??
These rules dictate behaviour, which in turn create and maintain societal cohesion, re-enforcing Bonvillain's (2006) statement that all independent behaviours and motives can be explained by conceptualising their position in the maintenance of their relevant society.
is in this respect that Malinowski's goal of social anthropology can be theorised as met - if the needs of collective individuals are satisfied, then the needs of their society as a whole can be seen as met also.
While transactionalism as a theoretical concept arose out of reaction to
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