OEDIPUS in the TROBRIANDS

Chicago / London: The university of Chicago press, 1982. 'The Making of a Scientific Myth'. Spiro challenges the argument of Bronislaw Malinowski that the matrilineal society of the Trobriand Islands produced a psychological constellation - a matrilineal complex - different from Freud's Oedipus complex and the generalization regarding the restrictive provenance of the Oepidus complex to which it gave rise. Spiro undertakes a reanalysis of Malinowski's data and shows that there is enough to suggest the presence of a strong Oedipus complex. Contents: 1). The problem posed. 2). The Trobriand matrilineal complex: a critique. 3). The Trobriand Oedipus complex: a hypothesis. 4). Testing the Trobrians oedipal hypothesis: predicted ontogenetic determinants. 5). Testing the Trobriand oedipal hypothesis: predicted psychological concomitants. 6). Is the Oedipus conplex universal? With notes, references and index. Melford Elliot Spiro (*1920) is an American cultural anthropologist specializing in religion and psychological anthropology. The Trobriand Islands (today officially known as the Kiriwina Islands) are a 450 km² archipelago of coral atolls off the eastern coast of New Guinea. They are part of the nation of Papua New Guinea and are situated in Milne Bay Province. XII + 200 pag.. 1st edition. Cloth binding. Good condition.. 22cmx14,5cm.