What Was the Significance of Malinowski’s Discussion of the Kula?

What was the significance of Malinowski's Discussion of the Kula?

It is widely accepted that Malinowski was the founder of true anthropological fieldwork and this is a view shared by many anthropologists. An example of one such anthropologist was Adam Kuper. In 1973 Kuper undertook the writing of an analysis of the complete history of social anthropology in which he speaks comparatively highly of Malinowski.

"Malinowski has a strong claim to being founder of the profession of social anthropology in Britain, for he established its distinctive apprenticeship- exotic fieldwork in an exotic country." (Kuper, 1973)

Kuper is referring to the amazing lengths Malinowski went to in order to accurately study the culture of the Trobianders in Papa New Guinea, from his ethnographer's tent. The purpose of this essay is to evaluate the truth of Kuper's point of view and critically discuss the significance of the theories that transpired from the pivotal fieldwork completed by Malinowski, concentrating on those of which surround the discussion of the Kula.

Many anthropologists of the late 19th Century, for example Frazer or Taylor,