Myth In Primitive Psychology

This early work by Bronislaw Malinowski was originally published in 1926 and we are now republishing it with a brand new biography of the author. 'Myth in Primitive Psychology' deals with various forms of myth and magic in relation to human psychology.

Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942) was a wide-ranging thinker whose ideas affected almost every branch of the social sciences. And nowhere is this impact more evident or more persistent than on the study of myth, ritual, and religion. He articulated as never before or since a program of seeing myths as part of the functional, pragmatic, or performed dimension of culture--that is, as part of activities that did certain tasks for particular human communities. Spanning his entire career, this anthology brings together for the first time the important texts from his work on myth. Ivan Strenski's introduction places Malinowski in his intellectual world and traces his evolving conception of mythology. As Strenski points out, Malinowski was a pioneer in applying the lessons of psychoanalysis to the study of culture, while at the same time he attempted to correct the generalizations of psychoanalysis with the cross-cultural researches of ethnology. With his growing interest in psychoanalysis came a conviction that myths performed essential cultural tasks in "chartering" all sort of human institutions and practices. Originally published in 1992. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

This volume investigates ideas, beliefs and sentiments in relation to social organization.

This volume investigates ideas, beliefs and sentiments in relation to social organization.

This vintage text contains Bronislaw Malinowski's seminal treatise, "The Father in Primitive Psychology". It is an analysis of the relationship of society and psychology in tribal communities, and explores ideas of sex and procreation, kinship, myth, social organisation, and more. This fascinating text will appeal to those with a keen interest in psychology, and it would make for a great addition to collections of allied literature. The chapters of this book include: "Kinship and Descent in a Matrilineal Society", "The Male and Female Organism and the Sexual Impulse in Native Belief", "Reincarnation and the Way to Life from the Spirit World", "The Ignorance of Physiological Paternity", "Words and Deeds in Testimony", etcetera. Bronislaw Kasper Malinowski (1884 - 1942) was a Polish anthropologist, commonly hailed as one of the most influential of the twentieth-century. This volume is being republished now in an affordable, modern edition, complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.

First Published in 1996. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Where do myths come from? What is their function and what do they mean? In this Very Short Introduction Robert Segal introduces the array of approaches used to understand the study of myth. These approaches hail from disciplines as varied as anthropology, sociology, psychology, literary criticism, philosophy, science, and religious studies. Including ideas from theorists as varied as Sigmund Freud, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Albert Camus, and Roland Barthes, Segal uses the famous ancient myth of Adonis to analyse their individual approaches and theories. In this new edition, he not only considers the future study of myth, but also considers the interactions of myth theory with cognitive science, the implications of the myth of Gaia, and the differences between story-telling and myth. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.