Discuss the functional theory of Malinowski.

 According to Leach, the anthropological greatness of Malinowski lies in his theoretical assumption that all field data must fit and form a total picture, just like in a jigsaw puzzle. In the words of Evans-Pritchard (1954: 54), for Malinowski functional method was ‘a literary device for integrating his observations for descriptive purposes.

It is not out of place to mention here that it was Malinowski’s contemporary Radcliffe-Brown who later developed the functional or organismic theory of society. With the definition of functionalism sort of nailed down, let’s move on to two of the men who are usually considered its biggest proponents.

Now, depending which source you read, both of these guys are given credit with developing the theory of functionalism.  For our purposes, we’ll let the professionals argue over who really came up with the theory. We’ll just refer to Bronislaw Malinowski and Emile Durkheim as two of the most famous functionalists in history.

First, Bronislaw Malinowski, as a British anthropologist, Malinowski claimed that all aspects of culture function in order to support society. However, he put a bit of a twist on it. For him, it was more individual or personal. He asserted that all aspects of culture originated in order to meet the need of the individual.

In other words, culture came about because individuals had needs. As these individual needs are met, the individual is then free to support society. To put him in a neat little box, let’s say that Bronislaw Malinowski felt that culture functioned to take care of the need of the individual. the individual trumped society. Unfortunately for Malinowski, most of his theories have been rather dismissed by more modern anthropologists.

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