Page:The sexual life of savages in north-western Melanesia.djvu/19

Rh psychological dynamics where forces are at play which may often be traced beneath the surface and take on strange forms and influence even those modes of activity which seem most remote from sex. In this department, the genius of Freud — as some think, in ways that are exaggerated — has given an impetus to the study of the sexual impulse and to its possible manifestations even in the myths and customs of savages. To these developments Dr. Malinowski is fully alive. He was even prepared at one time to be much more nearly a Freudian than we can now describe him. To-day he is neither Freudian nor anti-Freudian; he recognizes the fertilizing value of Freud's ideas, and he is prepared to utilize them whenever they seem helpful in elucidating the phenomena under investigation. These phenomena he views with a characteristically wide outlook; while not neglecting the precise technique of the erotic art among the Trobriand Islanders, he duly investigates their whole sexual life in its æsthetic, emotional, family, and social implications. Now that he has shown the way, other students doubtless will be inspired to follow. But in this field not all who are called are chosen. The special combination of needed qualifications can rarely be found, and meanwhile the opportunities are every year diminishing. It may safely be said that The Sexual Life of Savages in North-western Melanesia will become a classic of which the value must increase with the passage of time.

So far I have been speaking of this work in its relation to science. But I believe that it also has wider relations. It may interest not only those who are concerned with Rh