LOVE IN THE SOUTH SEAS

by Bengt Danielsson ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 24, 1956

After his voyage on the Kon Tiki, Bengt Danielsson returned to the South Pacific to live and to study the surroundings. His first book was an entertainingly written social survey of the reef island where the Kon Tiki had landed. Now a second book about the same region covers a broader territory and a more particular aspect of life- sex. Starting from the basis that we have long associated the South Pacific with love and hospitality, Mr. Danielsson moves easily from this tourist's assumption into a scholarly examination of South Seas love life and sexual mores and their interrelation with life in general. Much of the material, which includes discussions on courtship, sexual instruction, attitudes towards marriage, the position of women, child bearing and raising, and polygamy, both enlarges of and reconfirms recent anthropological studies such as Margaret Mead's. It successfully accounts too, for the Polynesian acceptance of sex as a natural rather than prohibited part of life. In his last chapter the author makes some suggestions whereby Westerners, in a limited adoption of some Polynesian customs, could be rid of some of the illogical social problems created by a strict but outdated set of mores. By no means exhaustive this shows a lack of foresight and psychological practicality in the conclusions it reaches but it is a faithful, readable description.

Pub Date: March 24, 1956

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking- Reynal

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1956

Categories: NONFICTION