Malinowski: Odyssey of an Anthropologist, 1884-1920

Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942) was one of the most colourful and charismatic social scientists of the twentieth century. His contributions as a founding father of social anthropology and his complex personality earned him international notoriety and near-mythical status. This book presents a portrait of Malinowski's early life, from his birth in Cracow to his departure from Australia in 1920. By the age of 36, Malinowski had already created the innovative fieldwork methods and techniques that would secure his intellectual legacy.
Young draws on an array of primary documents, including Malinowski's letters and unpublished diaries and manuscripts, and presents new information on the anthropologist's personality, private life, and early career. He describes Malinowski's restless life of travel - some of it in the imaginary footsteps of his literary hero and compatriot, Joseph Conrad - from Cracow to the Mediterranean and the Canary Island, Leipzig, London, Warsaw, Zakopane, Ceylon, Australia, colonial Papua, and the Trobriand Islands. Young also explores Malinowski's complicated relationships with women and with some of the greatest scholars of his generation.

Michael W. Young is a visiting fellow in the Department of Anthropology, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the Australian National University, Canberra.