On Death and Immortality: Reflections on Malinowski's Fieldwork

A case study of Bronislaw Malinowski, based on analysis of the diaries he kept during his fieldwork, reveals some of the major psychological issues that confronted him & that characterize fieldwork in general. A theoretical model of fieldwork is elaborated based on the conception of a rite of passage, especially as a symbolic death. Malinowski's life history reveals hypersensitivity to slights & other narcissistic tendencies. While in the field, Malinowski often faced the experience of loss of identity, & feared it. This is reflected in his dreams, in his concerns for women in his native country, in his sexual feelings & his practice of celibacy, & in his choice of narcissistic objects. Fieldwork was a shattering experience that he survived ultimately through identification with his work as a source of self-immortalization. 46 References. W. H. Stoddard