Malinowski's Functional Approach to the Study of Myths | Study notes Psychology

Introductory class: the study of myth

A quick brain-storming shows that a contemporary Western person has no clear

understanding of what “myth” is. Opinions and definitions vary widely. Especially

prominent is the issue of whether myths are true or false. Here the issue and

understanding of “truth” comes into play, as well as whether this is the correct angle to

study myths.

Four types of truth discussed in contemporary theology, philosophy, psychology:

Truth of correspondence

Emotional truth

Truth of coherence

Revelatory truth

D. Kahneman in his famous Thinking, Fast and Slow demonstrates astonishing facts

about how humans form their beliefs based on alternative types of truth (examples of

common beliefs and assumptions in our own world, such as investment consultants, roles

of CEO’s and so forth). These models of truth can be applied to myths and magic, which

is closely associated with myths.

One must overcome the traditional dichotomy “true/false,” which is a great

simplification, and learn how to deal with multiple models of truth: thus if something is

not true in terms of the truth of correspondence, it does not at all mean that it cannot have

an important role: thus it can be “true” in the sense of having a real practical role or doing

something for the society or a person.

The situation had been similar until B. Malinowski did his ground-breaking work on

myth. Malinowski was the first to use scientific (anthropological) methods to analyze

myth. Therefore this course will start with Malinowski’s method and findings.

Up to Malinowski (early 1920’s), the situation in the study of mythology has been as

follows (see his brief survey at the beginning of the text assigned for this class).

The most common theory has been etiological or explanatory: myths explain certain

natural phenomena that humans are unable to comprehend. Myths thus act as “primitive

science.” A branch of this etiological theory was the meteorological theory of myth:

myths explain specifically meteorological phenomena. The problem is that not all myths

are explanatory.

Similar to the “primitive science” theory, philosophers tried to interpret myths as

“primitive” attempts to understand things. As “primitive” people have no developed

conceptual thought, as children, simple stories and situations allow them to understand

difficult abstract concepts in a very concrete way. For example, a conflict of ideas can be

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Introductory class: the study of myth A quick brain-storming shows that a contemporary Western person has no clear understanding of what “myth” is. Opinions and definitions vary widely. Especially prominent is the issue of whether myths are true or false. Here the issue and understanding of “truth” comes into play, as well as whether this is the correct angle to study myths. Four types of truth discussed in contemporary theology, philosophy, psychology: Truth of correspondence Emotional truth Truth of coherence Revelatory truth D. Kahneman in his famous Thinking, Fast and Slow demonstrates astonishing facts about how humans form their beliefs based on alternative types of truth (examples of common beliefs and assumptions in our own world, such as investment consultants, roles of CEO’s and so forth). These models of truth can be applied to myths and magic, which is closely associated with myths. One must overcome the traditional dichotomy “true/false,” which is a great simplification, and learn how to deal with multiple models of truth: thus if something is not true in terms of the truth of correspondence, it does not at all mean that it cannot have an important role: thus it can be “true” in the sense of having a real practical role or doing something for the society or a person. The situation had been similar until B. Malinowski did his ground-breaking work on myth. Malinowski was the first to use scientific (anthropological) methods to analyze myth. Therefore this course will start with Malinowski’s method and findings. Up to Malinowski (early 1920’s), the situation in the study of mythology has been as follows (see his brief survey at the beginning of the text assigned for this class). The most common theory has been etiological or explanatory: myths explain certain natural phenomena that humans are unable to comprehend. Myths thus act as “primitive science.” A branch of this etiological theory was the meteorological theory of myth: myths explain specifically meteorological phenomena. The problem is that not all myths are explanatory. Similar to the “primitive science” theory, philosophers tried to interpret myths as “primitive” attempts to understand things. As “primitive” people have no developed conceptual thought, as children, simple stories and situations allow them to understand difficult abstract concepts in a very concrete way. For example, a conflict of ideas can be

presented as a struggle of great heroes, or the moral rule about not stealing can be taught by way of telling a story about a little boy stealing a bear’s honey in the woods. A prominent sociological school of thought (such as E. Durkheim and J. Frazer) linked myth and ritual: myths correspond to practiced rituals. The problem is that not all myths correspond to rituals. Another theory presented myths as simply literary phenomena, akin to metaphors and symbols. Myths are expressions of human creativity, like literature. For example, a poet can write a poem about a gloomy, rainy Fall day when leaves are falling and nature seems to be dying. This, of course, is a metaphor for how the poet feels. However, again, not all myths seem to be that way. Psychologists, specifically psychoanalysts like S. Freud, presented myths as conscious projections of unconscious desires, feelings, and thoughts. For example, famously Freud discovered that male children have an unconscious desire to kill their father and sleep with their mother. Of course, humans are horrified of such thoughts. So this subconscious desire come in the form of a story about Oedipus who did just that. It is not you who are behaving this way but the story has some strange fascination about it. The problem with this interesting theory is that there is no solid proof of that; most psychologists still distrust psychoanalysts. There is also a common opinion that myths are “stories about gods.” This is also not true because many such stories are not about gods. The only common feature of myths that all can agree on is that they are traditional stories that are somehow important to native and aboriginal societies. However what sort of story? And why is it important? And what is its meaning? Malinowski’s pioneering approach comes from his anthropological background. He rejects all the above explanations as inadequate and shifts the focus on to the method of studying myths. All previous approaches have failed because they studied myths as separate stories or texts, without their social context. Malinowski suggests, instead of looking at the content of myths, to start with studying the society itself that produces these traditional stories and how it functions , in great detail, and then to study how these traditional stories function in this society: when they are told, under which circumstances, etc. (His method is therefore called “functionalism.”) Only that way will one gain a truly scientific understanding of the role and meaning of these stories.

“precedents,” “testimonies,” “sanctions,” etc.) for the community that otherwise has no laws or law enforcement. For what he discovered about myths, including his classification (the topic for next class’s “classification” exercise) read Malinowski’s reading assignment for this class. Study Guide for Malinowski’s “Myth in Primitive Psychology” For the next two classes (before “Kula”), focus on the following topics: Malinowski’s classification of traditional Trobriand tales: kukwanebu, libwogwo/libogwo, liliu Relationship between myth and reality in the tribal mind The anthropological approach to the study of myth: what are its main strategies? the importance of context field study Malinowski’s understanding of the role/function of myth in society: “charter” myths, myth as a “social charter” The myths of origin main features/contents relationship between these myths and tribal ranks/the position of clans Malinwoski’s explanation of the role of myths of origin The myths of magic when is magic used? the purpose of magic relationship between magic and myth

Malinowski's Functional Approach to the Study of Myths, Study notes of Psychology

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