The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia

Bronislaw Malinowski

Kessinger Publishing, Mar 30, 2005 - Social Science - 732 pages

1929. An ethnographic account of courtship, marriage and family life among the natives of the Trobriand Islands, British New Guinea. From the Preface: The sexual life of savages has long awaited its natural historian. Owing to sex taboos, that weigh at least as much on the civilized as on the savage mind, this subject has always been veiled in mystery. The mystery has been fascinating or somber according to the general attitude to savagery that happened to prevail. Contents: The Relations Between the Sexes in Tribal Life; The Status of Woman in Native Society; Prenuptial Intercourse; The Avenues to Marriage; Marriage; Divorce and the Dissolution of Marriage by Death; Procreation and Pregnancy in Native Belief and Custom; Pregnancy and Childbirth; Customary Forms of License; Love-Making and the Psychology of Erotic Life; The Magic of Love and Beauty; Erotic Dreams and Fantasies; Morals and Manners; and A Savage Myth of Incest.

What people are saying

Review: Sexual Life of Savages

User Review  - Alfonso Jimenez - Goodreads

An early anthropological view of how relationships develop among the Trobriand people and why they exist. Recommended for those interested in looking at themselves through a fun mirror.

Review: Sexual Life of Savages

User Review - Goodreads

fantastic view of a society vanished just after the writing of the book.

Contents

• The Relations Between the Sexes in Tribal: 1
• UlatileYouth in Search of Amorous: 6
• XIII: 19
• The Status of Woman in Native Society: 28
• XIV: 36
• Prenuptial Intercourse: 51
• The Avenues to Marriage: 76
• Marriage: 109
• Divorce and the Dissolution of Marriage: 142
• Procreation and Pregnancy in Native: 164
• Pregnancy and Childbirth: 211
• Customary Forms of Licence: 236
• venture: 251
• KatuyausiA Ceremonial Escapade of Girls: 269
• YausaOrgiastic Assaults by Women: 273
• Actuality of Orgiastic Licence: 275
• LoveMaking and the Psychology of Erotic Life: 281
• Erotic Attraction: 285
• Repulsion by Ugliness Age and Disease: 288
• Beauty of the Human Face and Body: 295
• The Care of the Body: 303
• The Course of an Intrigue: 309
• Cases of Personal Attachment: 314
• The Commercial Aspect of Love: 319
• Jealousy: 321
• Beauty Colour and Scent in LoveMaking: 325
• The Conversation of Two Lovers: 328
• Erotic Approaches 33: 330
• The Act of Sex: 335
• The Magic of Love and Beauty: 344
• The Importance of Beauty: 345
• Ceremonial Occasions of Beauty Magic: 346
• The Ritual of Washing: 351
• The Ritual of Adornment: 354
• 5 The Magic of Safety and Renown at Festivi ties: 357
• The Magic of Love: 361
• 7 The Rite and the Spell in Love Magic: 365
• The Realities of Love Magic: 373
• 9 The Magic of Oblivion: 378
• Erotic Dreams and Fantasies: 384
• Dreams: 386
• Sex in FolkLoreString Figures: 396
• Sex in FolkLoreFacetiae: 402
• Sex in FolkLoreLegend and Myth: 412
• The Erotic Paradise of the Trobriander: 428
• Morals and Manners 1 Decency and Decorum: 438
• The Morals of: 452
• The Censure of Sexual Aberrations: 469
• Modesty in Speech and Behaviour: 477
• Exogamy and the Prohibition of Incest: 494
• The Supreme Taboo: 514
• 2: 515
• Savage Myth of Incest: 537
• The Sources of Love Magic: 540
• The Original Text of the Myth: 551
• Cases of Actual Incest: 565
• 438: 580
• 452: 581
• 469: 582
• 477: 584
• 537: 590
• 55i 565 Index 573: 592

About the author

Bronislaw Malinowski, a Polish-born British anthropologist, was a major force in transforming nineteenth-century speculative anthropology into an observation-based science of humanity. His major interest was in the study of culture as a universal phenomenon and in the development of fieldwork techniques that would both describe one culture adequately and, at the same, time make systematic cross-cultural comparisons possible. He is considered to be the founder of the functional approach in the social sciences which involves studying not just what a cultural trait appears to be, but what it actually does for the functioning of society. Although he carried out extensive fieldwork in a number of cultures, he is most famous for his research among the Trobrianders, who live on a small island off the coast of New Guinea.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia
• Author: Bronislaw Malinowski
• Contributor: Havelock Ellis
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Kessinger Publishing, 2005
• ISBN: 1417904771, 9781417904778
• Length: 732 pages
• Subjects: Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural