The Importance Of Tobroiad Women ( 1988 ) Essay - 734 Words

Introduction â€Å" The tasks of learning the learning the values that others live is never easy† (Weidner , 1988, pp. 6-7). These were Annette B. Weidner words as written in her article The Importance of Tobroiad Women (1988) . In this paper, we shall discuss – expectations and obstacles that she had to overcome while on her fieldwork in the Trobriand Islands of Papua Ginuea as well as her and the process to overcome them. What was her initial expectation ? In the article Annette Weidner expresses how her initial expectations were challenged by the transition in cultures. She writes how learning a new cultural and having to let go of her own were not as easy as expected causing her to rethink each step of her research (pp. 6-7). What has shaped her expectations? It is stated that Weidner had gone with initial expectations based on the Malinowski’s writings (Weidner, 1988, pp 6-7). His findings came to shaped her view on the Trobriand culture due to his previous research being solely being a matrilineal principle (pp. 6-7) . This caused her to view the culture in Malinowski’s anthropological perspective. This is visible in her article when she states â€Å"In my original plan women were not the main focus of my study† (Weidner, 1988, pp. 6-7). As Weidner started observing the Trobriand women were she took up residence her expectations started shifting from Malinowski’s view to her own view on the culture creating new expectations on her