CULTURAL

ANTHROPOLOGY
THREE : FUNCTION

KEY CONCEPT THREE : FUNCTION

Main threat to Evolutionism = Methodological

For scientific integrity: first-hand, solid,
observational data was required i.e. Fieldwork
To study and interpret:
1. Ethnography based on fieldwork to describe a
particular community, society or culture.
Ethnographer collects data to organize, describe,
analyse, interpret
2. Ethnology based on cross-cultural comparison
through examination, analysis and comparison of
the results of ethnography by Ethnologists

KEY CONCEPT THREE : FUNCTION

Functionalism concentrated on the role of

culture traits and practices in
contemporary society
Function is not Purpose which implies
intent, motive, or planning by someone.
Concepts of function in 20th Century
anthropology do not imply conscious
purpose
Customs and institutions arise from what
people do

KEY CONCEPT THREE : FUNCTION

There are 2 important aspects to

Functionalism in Cultural Anthropology:
Function is unconscious and a result of
unconscious social or cultural forces and
Applies to human societies generally, not
only advanced societies.

KEY CONCEPT THREE :

FUNCTION
BRONISLAW
MALINOWSKI
One of the most important 20th C.
anthropologists; Father of Ethnography
due to years of extended fieldwork in the
Trobriand Islands, South Pacific .
Trobrianders had customs and practices that
appeared inexplicable, even irrational, to
outsiders but their everyday problems for
survival were common to all humans.

KEY CONCEPT THREE : FUNCTION

KEY CONCEPT THREE :

FUNCTION
Malinowskis Functionalism from his ethnography:
All customs and institutions in society were interrelated
and interconnected. If one changed, others changed,
therefore each was a function of the others.
Ethnography , then, could begin anywhere and eventually
explain the rest of the culture e.g. a study of Trobriand
fishing would lead to study of the entire economic system,
the role of magic and religion, myth, trade and kinship.
Individuals were conscious of self interest and given to
strategic manipulation.
Malinowskis Functionalism = Psychological Functionalism,
based on the day-to-day universal biological needs of food,
sex, shelter etc.

KEY CONCEPT THREE : FUNCTION

Malinowski : No population could survive on irrational

customs and practices therefore task was to find
out their functions e.g. Trobriand Islanders use of
magic (Malinowski, 1948)
Gardening. Skilled gardeners but unable to control
rainfall. Magic not used to guarantee good crops
but alleviate anxiety caused by unpredictable
weather.
Fishing. Deep sea fishing more productive and
dangerous, required more elaborate magic. Inside
coral reef, only small catches so use of magic
minimal.

KEY CONCEPT THREE :

FUNCTION

Malinowski recognized value systems

and psychological motivations i.e.
Need for prestige as driving forces.
Analysis of the Kula ring (1922) Huge
trading system in the South Pacific
involving ceremonial exchanges of
significant ritual items.

KEY CONCEPT THREE :

FUNC

Islands having limited resources,

exchanges distributed much-needed
goods

N.B. Malinowskis argument with his

contemporaries Customs
situationally rational ; required
understanding of the peoples
circumstances in life.

KEY CONCEPT THREE : FUNCTION

Functionalism - British Social Anthropology, early

20thC. In USA Franz Boas argued importance of
history to explain function.
Diffusionism = cultures in past influenced each
other. Boas: neighbouring groups of Pacific coast
influence on each other in ceremonial feasts and art
forms.
Where US Anthropology asked
How or When a society adopted a Sun Dance
British Anthropology asked
How such a ceremonial functioned within the society.

KEY CONCEPT THREE :

FUNCTION
Positive aspects of Functionalism
1. Egalitarianism
2. Assumed general principles of social
systems existed in every system.
Customs vary but serve a function; no
society more rational

KEY CONCEPT THREE :

FUNCTION
Criticisms of Functionalism
1. More description than explanation of rituals.
Explanation not just How and Why particular
phenomenon existed but specific conditions
producing it or promoting its development
i.e. How it came into existence. Explanatory
statements were circular e.g. A ritual exists
because it serves a function but how do we
know it serves a function? because if it did
not, it would not exist.

KEY CONCEPT THREE :

FUNCTION
2. Functionalism failed to account for
cultural variability e.g. Witchcraft
channels stress and avoids conflict for
the Navajo but Song Duels achieve the
same things for the Inuit. Also, both are
interesting examples and descriptions of
particular cultural practices but do they
provide explanations?

KEY CONCEPT THREE :

FUNCTION
3. Societies viewed as isolates. Debatable:
Malinowskis work with island communities involved
complex political and economic relationships in a
vast regional trading system with the Kula ring.
4. Presumed a stable model of society in world where
colonialism was being dismantled. Created tensions
with colonial administrators and missionaries
because Functionalisms main argument was that
these colonized people with complex but workable
social, political and economic systems had managed
to exist for many years without imperial supervision.

KEY CONCEPT THREE :

FUNCTION
Discuss: Your impression of Malinowski

KEY CONCEPT THREE :

FUNCTION
What does this list inform you about Malinowskis work in
the Trobriands?
Kula: the Circulating Exchange of Valuables in the
Archipelagoes of Eastern New Guinea. (1920) Man, 20, 97105.
Argonauts of the Western Pacific: An account of native
enterprise in the Archipelago of Melanesian New Guinea.
(1922). London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Myth in primitive psychology. (1926) London: Norton.
Crime and custom in savage society. (1926). New York: Harcourt,
Brace & Co.
Sex and Repression in Savage Society. (1927). London: Kegan
Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co.
The Sexual Life of Savages in North Western Melanesia : An
Ethnographic Account of Courtship, Marriage, and Family
Life Among the Natives of the Trobriand Islands, British
New Guinea. (1929).London.

References
Kottak, C.P. (2009). Anthropology: the exploration of
human diversity. 13th ed. New York, NY: McGraw
Hill
Malinowski, B. (1922). Argonauts of the Western
Pacific. New York:Dutton.
Malinowski, B. (1948). Magic, Science, and Religion
and Other Essays. Garden City: Doubleday.
Perry, R.J. (2003). Five Concepts in Anthropological
Thinking. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice-Hall

Conclusion of Function, thank you