A DIARY IN THE STRICT SENSE OF THE TERM

by Bronislaw Malinowski ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 8, 1967

Two notebooks, largely in Polish, were found at the time of pioneer anthropologist Malinowski's death and are offered here in translation some forty-five years later. They date from 1914-15 and 1917-18, that ""critical period of his career when, having equipped himself theoretically for empirical studies, he began to carry out field research in New Guinea."" For the student seeking insights to the cultures he visited, the diary will be a disappointment. This is a personal account, of daily risings, and activities mentioned in passing, of small and larger illnesses. Most insistently, it is a journal of the sensual life and longings for women he knew in Europe, from T., the earlier inamorata, to E.R.M. ""'my wife' de facto and de sentiments"" whom he was indeed to marry (after this quote). His involvement with her is the main theme of the second section of the diary. For the careful reader, there are a few other remarks to note: of his aim (""I tried to control myself and to remember that I worked with immortality in view""); his insight (""The knowledge of a people's customs allows one to be in sympathy with them, and to guide them according to their ideas""), his ethics (""My whole ethics is based on the fundamental instinct of unified personality. . .. Love does not flow from ethics, but ethics from love""). It is indeed the record of an ardent, honest human being which emerges, intimate addenda.

Pub Date: March 8, 1967

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harcourt Brace & World

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1967

Categories: NONFICTION