The Sexual Life of Savages
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This classic ethnography by Bronislaw Malinowski looks at the sexual lives and family customs of the Trobriand Islanders of north-western Melanesia. It was written as a challenge to the claim, drawn from Freudian theory, that the Oedipus complex is found in every human society. Malinowski describes how sexuality shapes many parts of Trobriand culture, from courtship and marriage to ritual and the wider social order, and follows the life cycle from birth through adolescence, marriage and death.
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A large portion focuses on children and parents. Malinowski reports that Trobriand children grow up with a great deal of independence, and that the adults he observed rarely used harsh discipline. He also explains the matrilineal system, in which descent and inheritance run through the mother's line and the biological father plays little formal role. The book is a work of scholarship with many illustrations and remains a key text in the study of kinship.
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