Dying
in Bronislaw Malinowski Papers (LSE), of London School of Economics and Political Science. Library. Archives and Special Collections Team (Box 5: Linguistic notes and lectures, based on Trobriand Islands fieldwork, Folder 13: Texts, manuscripts) (London, England) (25 January 1918) , 2 page(s)
Details
- Abstract / Summary
- Date: 25.1.18. Place: Oburaku (Kiriwina). In a note numbered J222, Malinowski recounts his observation of a dying woman. She utters a phrase -- apparently a plea to Topileta, the keeper of the underworld, to turn her back -- that includes the word 'naminitswoyta,' which literally means 'good-looking.' Malinowski notes that in this instance it also means 'alive,' since Topileta is said to pinch people, and if they bleed, they are 'naminitswoyta' and must return to the living. The information is written on the back of reused stationery, consisting of a partial, handwritten letter from Australian politician John Lemmon, probably to Elsie Malinowski, discussing progress of a campaign to improve working conditions for nurses.
- Field of Interest
- Anthropology
- Copyright Message
- Materials sourced from Yale University. Copyright © 2016 by Patrick Burke
- Content Type
- Field notes
- Anthropologist / Ethnographer
- Bronisław Malinowski, 1884-1942
- Warning: Contains explicit content
- No
- Format
- Text
- Page Count
- 2
- Subject
- Anthropology, Social Sciences, Cultural anthropology, Linguistic anthropology, Death, Antropologia Cultural, Antropología Cultural, Antropología Lingüística, Antropologia Linguística, Kiriwina Island, Milne Bay Province, Trobriand Islanders
- Keywords and Translated Subjects
- Antropologia Cultural, Antropología Cultural, Antropología Lingüística, Antropologia Linguística