Argonauts of the Western Pacific - Bronisław Malinowski (darmowa biblioteka online .TXT) 📖
Argonauts of the Western Pacific to rozprawa naukowa autorstwa Bronisława Malinowskiego. Jest ona efektem wyprawy badacza na wyspy Toulon i wyspy Trobriandzkie.
Malinowski opisuje w niej przede wszystkim rytuał Kula, ukazujący zdolności handlowe ludów tam żyjących. Rytuał polega na wymianie biżuterii, opierającej się na pewnych szytwno ustalonych regułach związanych m.in. z równą wartością wymienianych przedmiotów. Malinowski upatruje w przedstawicielach społeczeństw pierwotnych wcielenia Argonautów z mitologii greckiej, którzy udali się po Złote Runo. Rozprawa Malinowskiego została oparta na wynikach jego metody badań antropologicznych — metody uczestniczącej, a nie wyłącznie obserwacyjnej. Jego działalność była przełomowa dla antropologii, która do tej pory bazowała na prowadzeniu obserwacji, a także rozszerzaniu założeń na kolejne wyniki badań.
Bronisław Malinowski był polskim antropologiem i socjologiem publikującym w pierwszej połowie XIX wieku. Prowadził badania społeczeństw pierwotnych w różnych zakątkach świata.
- Autor: Bronisław Malinowski
- Epoka: Współczesność
- Rodzaj: Epika
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Indeed, the customary behaviour of the Dobuans and of the visitors expresses this state of affairs with singular accuracy. It is the customary rule that the Trobrianders should be received first with a show of hostility and fierceness; treated almost as intruders. But this attitude entirely subsides after the visitors have ritually spat over the village on their arrival. The natives express their ideas on this subject very characteristically:
„The Dobu man is not good as we are. He is fierce, he is a man-eater! When we come to Dobu, we fear him, he might kill us. But see! I spit the charmed ginger root, and their mind turns. They lay down their spears, they receive us well”.
IIIThis show of hostility is fixed into a definite ceremonial attitude when the Dobuan village, which consists of a collection of hamlets, has been laid under a taboo. On the death of a man of importance in any of the hamlets, the whole community undergoes the so called gwara taboo. The coco-nut and betel-nut palms around and within the village are not allowed to be scaled, and the fruit must not be touched by the Dobuans themselves, and still less by strangers. This state of affairs lasts a varying length of time, according to the importance of the dead man, and to other circumstances. Only after the gwara has run out its course, and is ripe for expiring, do the Kiriwinians dare to come on a visit to Dobu, having been advised beforehand of the circumstance. But then, when they arrive, the Dobuans put up a show of real hostility, for the visitors will have to break the taboo, they will have to scale the palms, and take the forbidden fruit. This is in accordance with a wide-spread Papuo-Melanesian type of custom of finishing tabooed periods: in all cases, someone else, who is not under the taboo, has to put an end to it, or to force the imposer of the taboo to break it. And in all cases, there is some show of violence and struggle on the part of the one who has to allow it to be broken. In this case, as the Kiriwinian natives put it:
„Supposing we do not perform the ka’ubana’i (safety magic), we are afraid, when there is a gwara in Dobu, The Dobuans put on war paint, take spear in hand, and a puluta (sword club); they sit and look at us. We run into the village ; we climb the tree. He runs at us „Don’t climb”, he cries. Then we spit leyya (ginger root) at him. He throws down his spear, he goes back and smiles. The women take the spears away. We spit all around the village. Then he is pleased. He speaks: „You climb your coco-nut, your betel-nut; cut your bananas”.”
Thus the taboo is broken, the gwara is finished, and the customary and histrionic moment of tension is over, which must have been none the less a strain on the nerves of both parties.
This is the lengthy formula which a toliwaga utters over several bits of ginger root, which are afterwards distributed among his crew, each of whom carries a piece when getting ashore.
Ka’ubana’i„Floating spirit of Nikiniki! Duduba, Kirakira” (These words are untranslatable).
„It ebbs, it ebbs away!
Thy fury ebbs, it ebbs away, O man of Dobu!
Thy war paint ebbs, it ebbs away, O man of Dobu!
Thy sting ebbs, it ebbs away, O man of Dobu!
Thy anger ebbs, it ebbs away, O man of Dobu!
Thy chasing away ebbs, it ebbs away, O man of Dobu!”
A long string of various expressings denoting hostile passions, disinclination to make Kula, and all the paraphernalia of war are here enumerated. Thus, such words as „Kula refusal”, „growling”, „sulking”, „dislike”; further: „weapon”, „bamboo knife”, „club-sword”, „large-barbed spear”, „small-barbed spear”, „round club”, „war blackening”, „red war paint”, are uttered one after the other. Moreover, all of them are repeated in their Dobuan equivalents after the list has been exhausted in Kiriwinian. When this series has been exhausted with reference to the man of Dobu, part of it is repeated with the addition „Woman of Dobu”, the mention of weapons, however, being omitted. But this does not end this extremely long formula. After the protracted litany has been finished, the reciter chants:
„Who emerges at the top of Kinana? I” (here the name of the reciter is mentioned) „emerge on the top of Kinana”.
Then the whole litany is again repeated, the key word, instead of, „it ebbs, it ebbs away” being „the dog sniffs”. In connection with all the other words, this would run, more or less, in a free translation:
„Thy fury, O man of Dobu, is as when the dog sniffs” or, more explicitly:
„Thy fury, O man of Dobu, should abate as the fury of a dog abates when it comes and sniffs at a new-comer”.
The simile of the dog must be very strongly ingrained in the magical tradition, for in two more versions of this formula, obtained from different informants, I received as keywords the expressions: „The dog plays about” and „The dog is docile”. The final part of this formula is identical with that of the Kaykakaya spell previously given in this chapter:
„No more it is my mother, my mother art thou, O woman of Dobu” etc., running into the ending ”Recently deceased” etc.”
In comment on this formula, there is first of all the name mentioned in the first line, that of Nikiniki, or Monikiniki, as it is usually pronounced, with the prefix of masculinity, mo-. He is described as „A man, an ancient man; no myth about him; he spoke the magic”. Indeed, the main system of mwasila magic is named after him, but none of my informants knew any legend about him.
The first key word of the middle part is quite clear. It describes the ebbing away of the Dobuans’ passions and of their outward trappings. It is noteworthy that the word for „ebbing” here used, is in the Dobuan, and not in the Kiriwinian language. The reference to the dog already explained may be still made clearer in terms of native comment. One explanation is simple:
„They invoke the dog in the mwasila, because when master of dog comes, the dog stands up and licks; in the same way, the inclinations of the Dobu people”. Another explanation is more sophisticated: „The reason is that dogs play about nose to nose. Supposing we mentioned the word, as it was of old arranged, the valuables do the same. Supposing we had given away armshells, the necklace will come, they will meet”.
This means, by invoking the dog in this magic, according to old magical tradition, we also influence the Kula gifts. This explanation is undoubtedly far-fetched, and probably does not express the real meaning of the spell. It would have no meaning in association with the list of passions and weapons, but I have adduced it as an example of native scholasticism.
The dog is also a taboo associated with this magic. When a man, who practices the ka’ubana’i eats and a dog howls within his hearing, he has to leave his food, else his magic would „blunt”.
Safe under the auspices of this magic, the Trobriand sailors land on the beach of Tu’utauna, where we shall follow them in the next chapter.
I — Reception in Dobu. II — The main transactions of the Kula and the subsidiary gifts and exchanges: some general reflections on the driving force of the Kula; regulations of the main transaction; vaga (opening gift) and yotile (return gift); the sollicitory gifts (pokala, kwaypolu, kaributu, korotomna); intermediary gifts (basi) and final clinching gift (kudu); the other articles sometimes exchanged in the main transaction of the Kula (doga, samakupa, beku); commercial honour and ethics of the Kula. III — The Kula proceedings in Dobu: wooing the partner; kwoygapani magic; the subsidiary trade; roamings of the Boyowans in the Dobu district.
IIn the last chapter, we spoke about the institution of gwara (mortuary taboo) and of the threatening reception accorded to the visiting party, at the time when it is laid upon the village, and when it has to be lifted. When there is no gwara, and the arriving fleet are on an uvalaku expedition, there will be a big and ceremonial welcome. The canoes, as they approach, will range themselves in a long row facing the shore. The point selected will be the beach, corresponding to a hamlet where the main partner of the toli’uvalaku lives. The canoe of the toli’uvalaku, of the master of the uvalaku expedition, will range itself at the end of the row. The toli’uvalaku will get up on to the platform and harangue the natives assembled on the beach. He will try to appeal to their ambition, so that they might give the visitors a large amount of valuables and surpass all other occasions. After that, his partner on the shore will blow a conch-shell, and, wading through the water, advance towards the canoe, and offer the first gift of valuables to the master of the expedition. This may be followed by another gift, again given to the toli’uvalaku. Other blasts then follow, and men disengage themselves from the throng on the shore, approaching the canoes with necklaces for their partners. A certain order of seniority will be observed in this. The necklaces are always carried ceremonially; as a rule they will be tied by both ends to a stick, and carried hanging down, with the pendant at the bottom (see Plate LXI). Sometimes, when a vaygu’a (valuable) is carried to the canoes by a woman (a headman’s wife or sister), it will be put into a basket and carried on her head.
IIAfter this ceremonial reception, the fleet disperses. As we remember from Chapter II, the villages in Dobu are not built in compact blocks of houses, but scattered in hamlets, each of about a dozen huts. The fleet now sails along the shore, every canoe anchoring in front of the hamlet in which its toliwaga has his main partner.
We have at last arrived at the point when the real Kula has begun. So far, it was all preparations, and sailing with its concomitant adventure, and a little bit of preliminary Kula in the Amphletts. It was all full of excitement and emotion, pointing always towards the final goal, the big Kula in Dobu. Now we have at last reached the climax. The net result will be the acquisition of a few dirty, greasy, and insignificant looking native trinkets, each of them a string of flat, partly discoloured, partly raspberry-pink or brick-red discs, threaded one behind the other into a long, cylindrical roll. In the eyes of the natives, however, this result receives its meaning from the social forces of tradition and custom, which give the imprint of value to these objects, and surround
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