Malinowski as ancestor

Abstract

Jarillo et al. present evidence showing that Trobrianders today do not espouse rebirth, contrary to Trobriand views as described by Malinowski. Closer attention to Malinowski, however, shows that Jarillo et al.’s reading of him does not take account of a suggestive theoretical and anthropological framework concerning ideological variability and susceptibility to change which he was attempting to develop.