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A Diary in the Strict Sense of the Term
When it was first published (in 1967, posthumously), Bronislaw Malinowski's diary, covering the period of his fieldwork in 1914-1915 and 1917-1918 in New Guinea and the Trobriand Islands, set off a storm of controversy. Many anthropologists felt that the publication of the diary—which Raymond Firth describes as "this revealing, egocentric, obsessional document"—was a profound disservice to the memory of one of the giant figures in the history of anthropology. Almost certainly never intended to be published, Malinowski's diary was intensely personal and brutally honest. He kept it, he said, "as a means of self-analysis." Reviews ranged from "it is to the discredit of all concerned that the diary has now been committed to print" to "fascinating reading." Twenty years have passed, and Raymond Firth suggests that the book has moved over to a more central place in the literature of anthropological reflection. In 1967, Clifford Geertz felt that the "gross, tiresome" diary revealed Malinowski as "a crabbed, self-preoccupied, hypochondriacal narcissist, whose fellow-feeling for the people he lived with was limited in the extreme." But in 1988, Geertz referred to the diary as a "backstage masterpiece of anthropology, our The Double Helix ." Similarly in 1987, James Clifford called it "a crucial document for the history of anthropology."
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
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486 people want to read
About the author
Bronisław Malinowski
63 books150 followersBronisław Kasper Malinowski (IPA: [ˌmaliˈnɔfski]; April 7, 1884 – May 16, 1942) was a Polish anthropologist widely considered to be one of the most important anthropologists of the twentieth century because of his pioneering work on ethnographic fieldwork, with which he also gave a major contribution to the study of Melanesia, and the study of reciprocity.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 17, 2021
private thoughts made public
If you’re going to write a diary of your most private thoughts, you’d better think about what’s going to happen to it after you die. Of course, if you happen to be a giant in your chosen field and famous all around the world, you’d better think twice! Bronislaw Malinowski was born in the Polish part of Austria-Hungary and wound up as an anthropologist after a career switch in his twenties. In 1914, at the age of 30, he was in Melbourne, Australia, planning a research expedition to Papua New Guinea, when WW I broke out. He was not interned, though an “enemy alien” and was in fact given funds to carry out his work in the Trobriand Islands, a small archipelago off the southeastern corner of the huge main island. He spent the entire war period there, with a visit back to Australia once. The work that he did on the lives and culture of the islanders allowed him to write many books, all of which became classics. Malinowski became one of the founding fathers of modern anthropology, influencing generations of scholars.
While he must have taken copious notes over the long period of his exile/research, he also wrote this diary. It is a strange book. Many people felt that it should never have been published (25 years after his death) because a) it was private, b) it doesn’t show the scholar in a particularly good light and c) it isn't very enlightening on the process of research that made Malinowski famous. It contains an endless preoccupation with his health plus his longing for sex and his beloved E.R.M. back in Australia (stated in mostly Victorian terms, I should add). He remembers other girlfriends or loves, then reprimands himself over and over for doing so. He wavers, lusts after some woman he’s just met, then returns to dreams of E.R.M. (He did eventually marry her.) His frustrations and loneliness among an entirely different people lead him to make racist comments—not a lovely picture. Unlike other anthropologists, for example, Hortense Powdermaker, he does not seem to have befriended any of the people among whom he worked, rather he hung out with any European that washed up on these remote islands, but didn’t particularly like them. The book is full of reprimands to himself—to stop reading novels, for example—but the very next day, he is reading another novel. He should buckle down and work harder, but he’s slacking off again. This is the stuff of everyone’s life and does not elucidate the thought processes or research style that produced the famous books. In fact, there is very little written about his work, but a great amount of beautiful prose about sunsets, sailing, the sea, and scenery. He was, as another reviewer has pointed out, a 19th century European man in the 20th century, with few doubts as to the superiority of his culture. For him, the Trobrianders were just savages. As an anthropologist myself, I wondered at his lack of self-doubt as he faced a very different culture. I always wondered if I were on the right track, if I was not missing some serious issues or tendencies, if my interpretations were correct. He did not. I’m not sure why most people would want to read this saga of sickness, loneliness, and frequent frustration. If you are familiar with the author and his exalted position in the annals of Anthropology, you will probably be interested, otherwise, not.
If you’re going to write a diary of your most private thoughts, you’d better think about what’s going to happen to it after you die. Of course, if you happen to be a giant in your chosen field and famous all around the world, you’d better think twice! Bronislaw Malinowski was born in the Polish part of Austria-Hungary and wound up as an anthropologist after a career switch in his twenties. In 1914, at the age of 30, he was in Melbourne, Australia, planning a research expedition to Papua New Guinea, when WW I broke out. He was not interned, though an “enemy alien” and was in fact given funds to carry out his work in the Trobriand Islands, a small archipelago off the southeastern corner of the huge main island. He spent the entire war period there, with a visit back to Australia once. The work that he did on the lives and culture of the islanders allowed him to write many books, all of which became classics. Malinowski became one of the founding fathers of modern anthropology, influencing generations of scholars.
While he must have taken copious notes over the long period of his exile/research, he also wrote this diary. It is a strange book. Many people felt that it should never have been published (25 years after his death) because a) it was private, b) it doesn’t show the scholar in a particularly good light and c) it isn't very enlightening on the process of research that made Malinowski famous. It contains an endless preoccupation with his health plus his longing for sex and his beloved E.R.M. back in Australia (stated in mostly Victorian terms, I should add). He remembers other girlfriends or loves, then reprimands himself over and over for doing so. He wavers, lusts after some woman he’s just met, then returns to dreams of E.R.M. (He did eventually marry her.) His frustrations and loneliness among an entirely different people lead him to make racist comments—not a lovely picture. Unlike other anthropologists, for example, Hortense Powdermaker, he does not seem to have befriended any of the people among whom he worked, rather he hung out with any European that washed up on these remote islands, but didn’t particularly like them. The book is full of reprimands to himself—to stop reading novels, for example—but the very next day, he is reading another novel. He should buckle down and work harder, but he’s slacking off again. This is the stuff of everyone’s life and does not elucidate the thought processes or research style that produced the famous books. In fact, there is very little written about his work, but a great amount of beautiful prose about sunsets, sailing, the sea, and scenery. He was, as another reviewer has pointed out, a 19th century European man in the 20th century, with few doubts as to the superiority of his culture. For him, the Trobrianders were just savages. As an anthropologist myself, I wondered at his lack of self-doubt as he faced a very different culture. I always wondered if I were on the right track, if I was not missing some serious issues or tendencies, if my interpretations were correct. He did not. I’m not sure why most people would want to read this saga of sickness, loneliness, and frequent frustration. If you are familiar with the author and his exalted position in the annals of Anthropology, you will probably be interested, otherwise, not.
March 5, 2017
What makes this diary pretty fascinating is not its style (although Malinowsi does write very well), its ethnographic content (thin on the ground) nor its portrait of Papua New Guinea and its inhabitants. What makes it fascinating is what it reveals of the dichotomy that continues to exist between a 19th Century culture and a 20th Century mind.
Malinowski shows here that on the one hand, he desperately wanted to understand the 'savages', he wanted (and did manage) to empathise with them; yet on the other hand, he was 'repulsed' by them, and he never saw them as much more than children, as savages to be ordered around.
In this diary he makes it clear how this struggle affected him: he was besieged by fears about his health, endlessly thinking about women he loves, endlessly debating what to do, endlessly dreaming of comfort, of a European life. But at the same time, intensely immersed in his scientific work, looking to a future where he sees his own work as the beginning of a new science, of a new understanding.
He dreams of future acclaim, of publications, and yet experiences intense pleasure and joy in canoeing around the islands, marvelling at their beauty, intoxicated by the scent of flowers, by a sunset...
Of course, what is almost equally interesting is what it gives us to see of the daily life of an ethnologist: hatred of the natives ebbing and flowing, fear of death, of abandonment, rage at not understanding, ecstasy at a scientific insight, despondency, exaltation, lust and repulsion...
And in that last is the whole book encapsulated really: Malinowski is perfectly able to feel desire and lust for a native woman, he's equally able to admire their beauty - and yet he cannot but feel 'repulsed' by them: he cannot bridge the gap between cultures, between continents, or between centuries.
Drab read at times, you've got to read quite a lot at once to immerse yourself in its chronology and repetition, but very rewarding in the end.
Malinowski shows here that on the one hand, he desperately wanted to understand the 'savages', he wanted (and did manage) to empathise with them; yet on the other hand, he was 'repulsed' by them, and he never saw them as much more than children, as savages to be ordered around.
In this diary he makes it clear how this struggle affected him: he was besieged by fears about his health, endlessly thinking about women he loves, endlessly debating what to do, endlessly dreaming of comfort, of a European life. But at the same time, intensely immersed in his scientific work, looking to a future where he sees his own work as the beginning of a new science, of a new understanding.
He dreams of future acclaim, of publications, and yet experiences intense pleasure and joy in canoeing around the islands, marvelling at their beauty, intoxicated by the scent of flowers, by a sunset...
Of course, what is almost equally interesting is what it gives us to see of the daily life of an ethnologist: hatred of the natives ebbing and flowing, fear of death, of abandonment, rage at not understanding, ecstasy at a scientific insight, despondency, exaltation, lust and repulsion...
And in that last is the whole book encapsulated really: Malinowski is perfectly able to feel desire and lust for a native woman, he's equally able to admire their beauty - and yet he cannot but feel 'repulsed' by them: he cannot bridge the gap between cultures, between continents, or between centuries.
Drab read at times, you've got to read quite a lot at once to immerse yourself in its chronology and repetition, but very rewarding in the end.
July 16, 2009
Although Bronislaw Malinowski was a famous anthropologist, don't expect to find out anything about anthropology from his diary. He hardly ever wrote about his work, focusing instead on his loves and lusts, books he read, and obsessing over his health. (He was a hypochondriac who regularly dosed himself with arsenic, the turn-of-the-century aspirin.) I think this book better teaches the reader about the opinions and way of thinking of the European man during that time.
Frankly, I couldn't stand Malinowski. He was pretentious and bigoted and half the time I wanted to slap him. As an anthropologist you would expect he would be less prejudiced than the average person -- and perhaps, scarily, he was. But he consistently referred to his research subjects as "brutes" and "savages" and by a certain unprintable racial slur. He found their women attractive and occasionally "pawed" them, but actually sleeping with them was out of the question -- he seemed to equate the idea with bestiality. He had a fiancee back in Poland, but that didn't stop him from lusting after every white woman he met, and sometimes acting on it.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but I didn't get much out of it other than a bad taste in my mouth. However, I think it is a valuable historical document, and people studying the period would find it useful.
Frankly, I couldn't stand Malinowski. He was pretentious and bigoted and half the time I wanted to slap him. As an anthropologist you would expect he would be less prejudiced than the average person -- and perhaps, scarily, he was. But he consistently referred to his research subjects as "brutes" and "savages" and by a certain unprintable racial slur. He found their women attractive and occasionally "pawed" them, but actually sleeping with them was out of the question -- he seemed to equate the idea with bestiality. He had a fiancee back in Poland, but that didn't stop him from lusting after every white woman he met, and sometimes acting on it.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but I didn't get much out of it other than a bad taste in my mouth. However, I think it is a valuable historical document, and people studying the period would find it useful.
April 20, 2016
Brutally honest read. Time and again I was feeling I was a voyeurist, peeking into a keyhole. Nevertheless, I think it is a useful read for a beginning anthropologist - as you get to understand that even the great names (the founding fathers) were still human and had their own worries and problems during the course of fieldwork.
May 8, 2020
This is not a book for the faint of heart, or those who get bored easily, or those with little stamina. Not for those who are sensitive to incessant negativity, fighting, lustful musings, vivid descriptions of mental conflict, or continuous mentioning of health problems and use of drugs, or constant ranting, or hatred, or... Other than that, if you are interested in exciting adventures or incidents, then this book is not for you. But if you long for romance and pure love, then this book is not for you. However, if what you want is lots of information about varied and interesting topics, this book is not for you. Furthermore, if you long to be acquainted with scientific methods and field research techniques, this book is definitely not for you.
You may have found out that this book is very hard to be recommended.
But... if you want a diary, a real private diary, raw and without any retouching and editing, and you have a reason for wanting to read it (e.g. psychological research) it is a good resource.
You may have found out that this book is very hard to be recommended.
But... if you want a diary, a real private diary, raw and without any retouching and editing, and you have a reason for wanting to read it (e.g. psychological research) it is a good resource.
April 4, 2021
Where should I start ... this was both useful and boring. I had to read this for my university assignment and had no expectations. It is a great representation of the anthropologist's relationship with the field and a display of a certain way of thinking. Unfortunately, I was bothered by certain prejudices and discrimination because the author admits that he has a "European mentality", but does nothing about it - he still discriminates against respondents, and his attitude towards women is not worth mentioning.
August 17, 2013
Confessioni di un antropologo...
March 22, 2024
This was assigned reading for one of my anthropology classes, and I understand why. Malinowski certainly is one of the most important anthropologists of his time. However, this was an incredibly unpleasant read that offered little insight into his methods and was instead a personal account of an incredibly unlikable man.
November 26, 2023
Fascinating insight. I love how Malinowski goes round in circles of telling himself he won't waste time reading novels and having lewd thoughts then does so again ten pages later.
February 27, 2024
Nice poetry 👍
June 30, 2017
Im Jahre 1967 löste die Veröffentlichung der Feldtagebücher des Ethnologen Bronislaw Malinowski einen Skandal innerhalb des Faches aus. Diese zeigten zum ersten Mal eine ganz inoffizielle und subjektive Sicht auf die Feldforschung.
In der frühen Phase der Ethnologie herrschte Arbeitsteilung: Missionare und Kolonialbeamte sammelten Informationen, Gelehrte verwendeten dieses Material zur Theorienbildung. Bronislaw Malinowski (1884 - 1942) hielt sich zum Zeitpunkt des Ausbruchs des 1. Weltkrieges in Melbourne auf, an der Rückkehr nach Europa gehindert, verbrachte er die meiste Zeit auf den Trobriand-Inseln (Neuguinea). Seine dreibändige Trobriand-Monographie leistete einen entscheidenden Beitrag zum Bruch mit der imaginären Ethnographie des 19. Jahrhunderts. In der Einleitung zu den "Argonauten des westlichen Pazifik" formulierte er die Regeln der Teilnehmenden Beobachtung, die inzwischen ein "locus classicus" der Ethnographie sind.
"A Diary in the Strict Sense of the Term" ("Ein Tagebuch im strikten Sinn des Wortes") war nicht zur Veröffentlichung bestimmt, seine Übersetzung erwies sich als schwierig, weil es in polnisch verfasst und teilweise unleserlich war. Über Fragen oder Probleme der Feldforschung ist kaum etwas zu erfahren, die Außenwelt tritt vor einer selbstquälerischen Innenschau in den Hintergrund. Fast tägliche Klagen über Heimweh, Depressionen, echte und eingebildete Krankheiten, moralische Appelle und Selbstanklagen bestimmen das Bild des Forschungsaufenthaltes.
Das Tagebuch diente Malinowski dazu, einen täglichen Dialog zu institutionalisieren, den Kontakt zur eigenen Kultur und Sprache aufrechtzuerhalten, um die eigene Identität zu bewahren. Es hatte den therapeutischen Wert, die Einsamkeit und Alltagsleiden durch schriftliche Objektivierung zu lindern und diente als Mittel zur Selbstbeobachtung und -disziplinierung.
Ethnozentristische Vorurteile und Ausbrüche von Beleidigungen helfen Malinowski, mit seinen inneren Konflikten umzugehen und seine Enttäuschungen, Verbitterungen, Hilflosigkeit und soziale Isolation ertragen zu können. Die Unzulänglichkeiten der auf Sympathie und Empathie beruhenden Methode der Teilnehmenden Beobachtung werden im Tagebuch sichtbar, wenn Malinowski diesem Eintauchen in eine andere Gesellschaft eher zu entfliehen sucht.
Die posthume Veröffentlichung der Tagebücher trug zur Krise des Objektivitätsbegriffs in der Ethnologie bei, denn die subjektiven und situationsbedingten Aspekte der Feldforschung ließen sich nicht mehr verdrängen. Die gegensätzlichen Versionen derselben Forschung führten zu der Auseinandersetzung mit der Frage nach dem literarischen Gehalt wissenschaftlicher Texte (literarische Wende), der Frage, welcher rhetorischen Mittel sich der Autor bedient, um aus der singulären Erfahrung der Feldforschung einen generalisierenden wissenschaftlichen Text zu konstruieren.
Für Ethnologen und Studenten des Faches, die sich mit der Methodenlehre beschäftigen, ist Bronislaw Malinowskis Tagebuch als Zeitdokument auf der Literaturliste. Für Nicht-Ethnologen dürfte jedoch sein Werk "Argonauten des westlichen Pazifik" nicht nur wegen des dargestellten Kula-Tauschsystems von Interesse sein, sondern auch wegen seiner literarischen Qualitäten und seines erzählerischen Talents. Wer mehr über die Tücken der Feldforschung erfahren möchte, ist bei Nigel Barleys "Raupenplage" und "Traumatische Tropen" in den besten Händen.
In der frühen Phase der Ethnologie herrschte Arbeitsteilung: Missionare und Kolonialbeamte sammelten Informationen, Gelehrte verwendeten dieses Material zur Theorienbildung. Bronislaw Malinowski (1884 - 1942) hielt sich zum Zeitpunkt des Ausbruchs des 1. Weltkrieges in Melbourne auf, an der Rückkehr nach Europa gehindert, verbrachte er die meiste Zeit auf den Trobriand-Inseln (Neuguinea). Seine dreibändige Trobriand-Monographie leistete einen entscheidenden Beitrag zum Bruch mit der imaginären Ethnographie des 19. Jahrhunderts. In der Einleitung zu den "Argonauten des westlichen Pazifik" formulierte er die Regeln der Teilnehmenden Beobachtung, die inzwischen ein "locus classicus" der Ethnographie sind.
"A Diary in the Strict Sense of the Term" ("Ein Tagebuch im strikten Sinn des Wortes") war nicht zur Veröffentlichung bestimmt, seine Übersetzung erwies sich als schwierig, weil es in polnisch verfasst und teilweise unleserlich war. Über Fragen oder Probleme der Feldforschung ist kaum etwas zu erfahren, die Außenwelt tritt vor einer selbstquälerischen Innenschau in den Hintergrund. Fast tägliche Klagen über Heimweh, Depressionen, echte und eingebildete Krankheiten, moralische Appelle und Selbstanklagen bestimmen das Bild des Forschungsaufenthaltes.
Das Tagebuch diente Malinowski dazu, einen täglichen Dialog zu institutionalisieren, den Kontakt zur eigenen Kultur und Sprache aufrechtzuerhalten, um die eigene Identität zu bewahren. Es hatte den therapeutischen Wert, die Einsamkeit und Alltagsleiden durch schriftliche Objektivierung zu lindern und diente als Mittel zur Selbstbeobachtung und -disziplinierung.
Ethnozentristische Vorurteile und Ausbrüche von Beleidigungen helfen Malinowski, mit seinen inneren Konflikten umzugehen und seine Enttäuschungen, Verbitterungen, Hilflosigkeit und soziale Isolation ertragen zu können. Die Unzulänglichkeiten der auf Sympathie und Empathie beruhenden Methode der Teilnehmenden Beobachtung werden im Tagebuch sichtbar, wenn Malinowski diesem Eintauchen in eine andere Gesellschaft eher zu entfliehen sucht.
Die posthume Veröffentlichung der Tagebücher trug zur Krise des Objektivitätsbegriffs in der Ethnologie bei, denn die subjektiven und situationsbedingten Aspekte der Feldforschung ließen sich nicht mehr verdrängen. Die gegensätzlichen Versionen derselben Forschung führten zu der Auseinandersetzung mit der Frage nach dem literarischen Gehalt wissenschaftlicher Texte (literarische Wende), der Frage, welcher rhetorischen Mittel sich der Autor bedient, um aus der singulären Erfahrung der Feldforschung einen generalisierenden wissenschaftlichen Text zu konstruieren.
Für Ethnologen und Studenten des Faches, die sich mit der Methodenlehre beschäftigen, ist Bronislaw Malinowskis Tagebuch als Zeitdokument auf der Literaturliste. Für Nicht-Ethnologen dürfte jedoch sein Werk "Argonauten des westlichen Pazifik" nicht nur wegen des dargestellten Kula-Tauschsystems von Interesse sein, sondern auch wegen seiner literarischen Qualitäten und seines erzählerischen Talents. Wer mehr über die Tücken der Feldforschung erfahren möchte, ist bei Nigel Barleys "Raupenplage" und "Traumatische Tropen" in den besten Händen.
March 13, 2025
Copied my previous Chinese review from Douban.com.
What shocked me the most was the unconditional closeness I felt toward all of his contradictions, struggles, and pain. Given the ongoing controversy of this diary, I marked it as double five stars without hesitation.
....love him so very much!
看完，最为震惊的是对他所有的矛盾、挣扎和痛苦产生了无条件无限度的亲切感。基于对这本日记的持续争议性，毫不犹豫5星双倍。
在蚊帐里
在蚊帐底下。据说这是当年这日记被公开出版后哗然嚣声里的一个书评名字。在蚊帐底下能做什么呢？这是个暧昧的标题。马林诺夫斯基本人却并没想暧昧（虽然他深感痛苦）。他写日记是为记录自己，他每天都会写这一笔，在蚊帐底下，渴望身体，性幻想，还有许多“下流、肮脏”念头。
不可以吗？
马林诺夫斯基，之前我不知道他的名字。不知道他是个著名的人类学家。搜书时发现了这个《一本严格意义上的日记》，因为对他人类学家的身份感兴趣，就买了。也没很快看。后来在微博上看到对这个书的争议问题。看完《战地行纪》后就拆了这个封。
边看边觉得自己开始无条件无限度对他有亲切感。一直到全书终。
那些所谓有道德争议的东西，他在工作中的阴暗、沮丧情绪，对情感的摇摆，对女人、色情的渴望以及对调查对象土著的不公义，等等，无一不让我既震动又深感亲切和理解。我意识到，所谓人的清澈是什么，人的清澈在本质上是没有的，但在一种相对层面，完全的呈现，尽力将整个身心赤裸无饰，克制着惊恐、罪恶一直凝望着，这就是一种清澈了。还有什么比这更清澈的？还有什么比这更需要宽谅的？任何对这种状态的质疑和轻易地蔑视，我倒觉得比状态本身可疑得多。
这日记出版后有比较尖锐的批评指马林诺夫斯基在日记里的”狭窄心胸“是他在学术著作里”慷慨慈悲“的反证。而我看到他在日记里有反复对“内省自身真实灵魂的力量”的执着要求。还有任何慈悲是与能无条件地裸呈自己同时剖析着自己相比较的吗？还有任何慷慨是与能在一种本能的钳制中尽力清醒地记录下这本能的种种症状相比较的吗？人人都有可能声称自己在追求一种普遍的、公众许可的道德，但并非人人都有勇气和有能力不设阻碍不做修饰地将五脏肺腑暴露在空气里，而寻求到一种真实的出路。
我喜欢马林诺夫斯基。这个世界有多少人（包括我）一生带着自制和别人加饰的铁面具，从未获得过解放，大部分人最后是带着这种铁面具自觉和不自觉地沉没消亡了。他却一直在想凿穿这种铁面具。他一直在挣脱和求解。我想这样的一生是无比阴暗和痛苦的吧。但是，这满地星星火火被砸落的铁屑，又有几人能具备这样的诚实勇气呢？这个世界，天生不戴铁面具的人是罕有的，不能说没有，但一定罕有，而若是天生不戴铁面具的人，他（她）有更良善和柔软的眼光，他（她）并不会唾弃一个痛苦挣扎的人。只有一种在惊恐中既不敢也无力正视这种惊恐，有着自身都难意识得到的虚弱、空乏的人，才会对此震怒和唾恨吧。而也许还有另外一种苦恼者，他心灵意识里的空洞和深渊是被自我的不自知不开掘所堵塞着的。他（她）不明白也并不想明白这些千疮百孔的东西。这样的人也许是另一种失语者。
我也注意到，马林诺夫斯基写这个日记的年龄是30岁，31岁，34岁，35岁。他嗜好小说。他读吉卜林，简奥斯汀，夏洛蒂勃朗特，哈代，莎士比亚。他喜欢康拉德，意识到自己有陀思妥耶夫斯基式情结。引用“在蚊帐底下”做标题的人，也许是想强调他的那种所谓色情非道德状态吧。可是，“在蚊帐底下”，他也写到，“月亮——我走出去，静静哭泣。在蚊帐里也哭了。”
嗯。非常非常喜欢这个人。
应该感谢他的第二个妻子意外整理出这些封存日记后的出版决定。应该感谢她愿意承担自己活着必须面对的所有伦理压力。是的，也许马林诺夫斯基自己生前也并不想面对这个世界摘下这副安全的铁面具，虽然在他内心的王国，他已将它们摘下。但是身体已远走，世事不如风，一切都不再追得上你。
What shocked me the most was the unconditional closeness I felt toward all of his contradictions, struggles, and pain. Given the ongoing controversy of this diary, I marked it as double five stars without hesitation.
....love him so very much!
看完，最为震惊的是对他所有的矛盾、挣扎和痛苦产生了无条件无限度的亲切感。基于对这本日记的持续争议性，毫不犹豫5星双倍。
在蚊帐里
在蚊帐底下。据说这是当年这日记被公开出版后哗然嚣声里的一个书评名字。在蚊帐底下能做什么呢？这是个暧昧的标题。马林诺夫斯基本人却并没想暧昧（虽然他深感痛苦）。他写日记是为记录自己，他每天都会写这一笔，在蚊帐底下，渴望身体，性幻想，还有许多“下流、肮脏”念头。
不可以吗？
马林诺夫斯基，之前我不知道他的名字。不知道他是个著名的人类学家。搜书时发现了这个《一本严格意义上的日记》，因为对他人类学家的身份感兴趣，就买了。也没很快看。后来在微博上看到对这个书的争议问题。看完《战地行纪》后就拆了这个封。
边看边觉得自己开始无条件无限度对他有亲切感。一直到全书终。
那些所谓有道德争议的东西，他在工作中的阴暗、沮丧情绪，对情感的摇摆，对女人、色情的渴望以及对调查对象土著的不公义，等等，无一不让我既震动又深感亲切和理解。我意识到，所谓人的清澈是什么，人的清澈在本质上是没有的，但在一种相对层面，完全的呈现，尽力将整个身心赤裸无饰，克制着惊恐、罪恶一直凝望着，这就是一种清澈了。还有什么比这更清澈的？还有什么比这更需要宽谅的？任何对这种状态的质疑和轻易地蔑视，我倒觉得比状态本身可疑得多。
这日记出版后有比较尖锐的批评指马林诺夫斯基在日记里的”狭窄心胸“是他在学术著作里”慷慨慈悲“的反证。而我看到他在日记里有反复对“内省自身真实灵魂的力量”的执着要求。还有任何慈悲是与能无条件地裸呈自己同时剖析着自己相比较的吗？还有任何慷慨是与能在一种本能的钳制中尽力清醒地记录下这本能的种种症状相比较的吗？人人都有可能声称自己在追求一种普遍的、公众许可的道德，但并非人人都有勇气和有能力不设阻碍不做修饰地将五脏肺腑暴露在空气里，而寻求到一种真实的出路。
我喜欢马林诺夫斯基。这个世界有多少人（包括我）一生带着自制和别人加饰的铁面具，从未获得过解放，大部分人最后是带着这种铁面具自觉和不自觉地沉没消亡了。他却一直在想凿穿这种铁面具。他一直在挣脱和求解。我想这样的一生是无比阴暗和痛苦的吧。但是，这满地星星火火被砸落的铁屑，又有几人能具备这样的诚实勇气呢？这个世界，天生不戴铁面具的人是罕有的，不能说没有，但一定罕有，而若是天生不戴铁面具的人，他（她）有更良善和柔软的眼光，他（她）并不会唾弃一个痛苦挣扎的人。只有一种在惊恐中既不敢也无力正视这种惊恐，有着自身都难意识得到的虚弱、空乏的人，才会对此震怒和唾恨吧。而也许还有另外一种苦恼者，他心灵意识里的空洞和深渊是被自我的不自知不开掘所堵塞着的。他（她）不明白也并不想明白这些千疮百孔的东西。这样的人也许是另一种失语者。
我也注意到，马林诺夫斯基写这个日记的年龄是30岁，31岁，34岁，35岁。他嗜好小说。他读吉卜林，简奥斯汀，夏洛蒂勃朗特，哈代，莎士比亚。他喜欢康拉德，意识到自己有陀思妥耶夫斯基式情结。引用“在蚊帐底下”做标题的人，也许是想强调他的那种所谓色情非道德状态吧。可是，“在蚊帐底下”，他也写到，“月亮——我走出去，静静哭泣。在蚊帐里也哭了。”
嗯。非常非常喜欢这个人。
应该感谢他的第二个妻子意外整理出这些封存日记后的出版决定。应该感谢她愿意承担自己活着必须面对的所有伦理压力。是的，也许马林诺夫斯基自己生前也并不想面对这个世界摘下这副安全的铁面具，虽然在他内心的王国，他已将它们摘下。但是身体已远走，世事不如风，一切都不再追得上你。
July 24, 2015
An interesting yet extremely dull look into the mind of one of the fathers of anthropology, complete with the nitty gritty and the worst excesses. Intended as a private diary this book launched outrage into the world of Anthropology once published, making one of the founding fathers look like a bitter, bigoted old man. You might think it worth reading just for that but no, not really. What it ends up as is not a highly polished memoir like Tristes Tropiques but a dull 19th century style day by day narrative that will drive you crazier than the Trobriands apparently drove Malinowski.
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