Name
CA03: History and Theory of Anthropology
Mid-Term Take-Home Exam
8 March 2021
Essay nr. 1
Bronislaw Malinowski is considered to be the founder of modern fieldwork
methods of anthropological research. Describe what kind of evidence the
anthropologist needs to collect according to Malinowski in order to be able ‘to
grasp the native’s point of view’. Explain what was so revolutionary about his
approach.
Wordcount: 801, excluding in-text references
Malinowski’s revolutionary fieldwork method
Bronislaw Malinowski is considered to be one of the four founding fathers of anthropology
and it is said that his approach of participant observation was revolutionary. In Malinowski’s
own words: “There is all the difference between a sporadic plunging into the company of
natives, and being really in contact with them.” (Malinowski 1922, 6). According to
Malinowski there are three types of evidence that an anthropologist needs to collect in order
to be able ‘to grasp the native’s point of view’: The outline of the culture, the imponderabilia
of actual life and corpus inscriptionum of native mentality. This type of evidence collection
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, falls under his approach of participant observation, which was considered to be revolutionary
because it set a new standard for ethnographic research.
In this essay I will explain the method of participant observation, followed by a description of
evidence collection and explain why both are intertwined. Then I will explain why participant
observation was considered to be revolutionary.
The words ‘participant observation’ are clear: you have to participate and observe. Described
by Eriksen and Nielsen (2001, 42), like Malinowski, an anthropologist should live with the
people he or she chose to study and learn their language, traditions and their way of life. This
type of technique requires anthropologists to live with the native people for as long as needed
to thoroughly and fully immerge oneself in the other culture. As stated by Malinowski (1922,
5) the ‘secret’ of achieving effective and scientific fieldwork is by following three principles
of method. Firstly, an anthropologist must know the modern methods of ethnography and use
them in a scientific way. Secondly, the anthropologist must live with and among the natives.
Thirdly, an anthropologist must apply a specific method evidence collection.
The method designed by Malinowski is meant to help the anthropologist ‘to grasp the
native’s point of view’. According to Malinowski society has to be understood holistically
(Eriksen and Nielsen 2001, 41). This means that societies need to be studied as a whole, with
different parts that each have a function and are intertwined with one another. This also
means that you have to look at how societies work in the present day and avoid a historical
analysis. This became known as a functionalist approach (Eriksen and Nielsen 2001, 43).
This approach meant collecting three types of evidence; the outline of the culture, the
imponderabilia of actual life and corpus inscriptionum of native mentality.
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