Paper short abstract:

Ethnography makes the most personal public. It’s history, biography, and anthropology. Here, Trobriand ethnographies are examined as ‘anthropolography: the study of the anthropologist, his or her assumptions, theories and works as a whole and not as fragmented parts’(Glass 1978).

Paper long abstract:

Malinowski regretted that he wrote up his work piece-meal: he never presented an overview of Trobriand culture, or really told us the society had changed immeasurably through contact. How are things related, and what does it all mean, are questions left unanswered. In 1931, Malinowski conceded that he had misinterpreted Trobriand paternity beliefs in 'an evolutionist's recantation'. He struggled to understand the decorated war shield designs, but accepted the indigenous interpretation at face value.

Annette Weiner was in thrall to the significance of Tobriand women's role in important feasts - an area neglected by Malinowski. She had intended to investigate many aspects of the material culture, but failed to do so. Vital Trobriand beliefs are also absent from her ethnographies. What is paramount for Weiner in today's Trobriands is female exchange.

Malinowski's ethnography is probably unparalleled in its detail, and for the questions it raises. I maintain that the decorated war shield is coded, and it holds the key to traditional Trobriand culture. This finding was only possible as I took a strong view on ethnography itself as 'anthropolography'. This enabling methodology led to a paradigm shift. I believe this has much wider implications for anthropology as practised.

Glass, Patrick 1978. 'A Case for Anthropolography'. In, MSc Thesis, pp. 3-25.

____1986. The Trobriand Code: An Interpretation of Trobriand War Shield Designs. Anthropos 81: 47-63.

____1988. Trobriand Symbolic Geography. Man (N.S) 23: 56-76.

____1996. Oedipal or Tudavan? The Trobriand Nuclear Complex Revisited. Canberra Anthropology 19 (1) 52-104.