Sex and Repression in Savage Society — Bronislaw Malinowski

During the First World War the pioneer anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski found himself stranded on the Trobriand Islands off the eastern coast of New Guinea By living among the people he studied there speaking their language and participating in their activities he invented what became known as participant observation This new type of ethnographic study was to have a huge impact on the emerging discipline of anthropology In Sex and Repression in Savage Society Malinowski applied his experiences on the Trobriand Islands to the study of sexuality and the attendant issues of eroticism obscenity incest oppression power and parenthood In so doing he both utilized and challenged the psychoanalytical methods being popularized at the time in Europe by Freud and others The result is a unique and brilliant book that though revolutionary when first published has since become a standard work on the psychology of sex