Malinowski the Modern Other: An Indirect Evaluation of Postmodernism

Authors

  • Renée Sylvain University of Toronto

Abstract

This article outlines how postmodernists construct a version of Malinowski to serve as a Modem Other against which they define their own postmodern ethnographic standards. They do this by emphasizing only one side of what I argue is Malinowski's dualistic approach, neglecting aspects of his method that could be regarded as a precursor to an interpretative approach. Where Malinowski's interpretative features are recognized, they are dismissed and anachronistically criticized as a mode of rhetorically establishing "experiential authority." As such, postmodern critiques succumb to the charge of narrating interested "partial truths."

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Author Biography

Renée Sylvain, University of Toronto

Renee Sylvain is a doctoral student in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Toronto. Her research interests are in southern African studies, feminist anthropology and the history of anthropological theory. She is currently conducting field research with San women in Namibia.

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Published

2022-06-02

How to Cite

Sylvain, R. (2022). Malinowski the Modern Other: An Indirect Evaluation of Postmodernism. Anthropologica, 38(1), 21–45. Retrieved from https://cas-sca.journals.uvic.ca/index.php/anthropologica/article/view/2022

Issue

Vol. 38 No. 1 (1996)

Section

Articles

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