Methods of Study of Culture Contact in Africa

Book excerpt: This antique text contains a detailed treatise on the contacting of indigenous tribes and communities on the continent of Africa. This brochure is a reprint of a series of papers that appeared during 1934, 1935 and 1936 in the journal of the African Institute, the sponsor of the field-work out of which these discussions arose. Since all the contributors write from their first-hand experience, the essays have that peculiarly attractive freshness that can only come when those faced with problems of method describe and evaluate the devices they employ with the difficulties that face them in the course of their research. This text has been elected for modern republication due to its educational and historical value, and we are proud to republish it here complete with a new introductory biography of the author. Bronislaw Kasper Malinowski (1884-1942) was a Polish anthropologist,who is commonly hailed as one of the most influential anthropologists of the 20th-century.