Oedipus in the Trobriands
Cover of the first edition, showing an illustration adapted from an engraving in New Guinea by L. M. D'Albertis
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| Author | Melford Spiro |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Oedipus complex |
| Published | 1982 (The University of Chicago Press) |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
| Pages | 200 |
| ISBN | |
Oedipus in the Trobriands is a 1982 book about the Oedipus complex by the anthropologist Melford Spiro, in which the author criticizes the research of Bronislaw Malinowski on the Trobriand Islanders. The work received positive reviews, and Spiro's criticism of Malinowski was compared to Derek Freeman's criticism of Margaret Mead in Margaret Mead and Samoa (1983).
Spiro discusses the Oedipus complex, and controversies over it that have involved psychoanalysts and anthropologists. He notes that there is already a vast literature on the topic, which in his view has a "persistent claim on the interest of those who are concerned with understanding the human condition." Influenced by psychoanalysis, he attempts to refute Malinowski's skepticism about the applicability of Sigmund Freud's ideas to the Trobriand Islanders, using Malinowski's own materials.
Ruth Solie gave Oedipus in the Trobriands a mixed review in Library Journal, writing that while the book "will appeal to those interested in incest and psychological universals, interpreting the unconscious meanings of symbolic forms is a delicate, and often controversial, task."
Oedipus in the Trobriands received positive reviews from C. R. Badcock in the British Journal of Sociology, and John S. Matthiasson in the Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology. Badcock compared Spiro's criticism of Malinowski in Oedipus in the Trobriands to anthropologist Freeman's criticism of Mead in Margaret Mead and Samoa (1983), crediting Spiro with exposing the "glaring contradictions, obvious fallacies and supported assertions" in Malinowski's work. Badcock wrote that while Spiro's conclusions would come as a surprise to many anthropologists, Spiro fully authenticated them. Badcock praised Spiro's discussion of the "universality of the Oedipus complex". Matthiasson called Oedipus in the Trobriands "tightly reasoned" and an "important book" that forces the reader to re-examine Malinowski's position on the Oedipus complex, and a "brilliant exercise in both methodology and theory construction." He praised Spiro's "re-working of Malinowski's own data on the Trobrianders to reach contrary conclusions", and wrote that Spiro presents "a theory of cultural integration which goes far beyond Malinowski's functionalism", but predicted that Oedipus in the Trobriands would be controversial.
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