Magic may seem an improbable case for functional explanation,
but it was an integral element in Malinowski’s theory because
magic was central to Trobriand life. Magic was used to kill enemies and prevent one being killed; it was used to ease the birth
of a child, to enhance the beauty of dancers, to protect fishermen,
or to ensure the harvest. Magic was never mere superstition or
empty gesture. Rather, Malinowski argued,
Magic, as the belief that by spell and rite results can be obtained, . . . always appears in those phases of human action
where knowledge fails man. Primitive man cannot manipulate
the weather. Experience teaches him that rain and sunshine,
wind, heat and cold, cannot be produced by his own hands,
however much he might think about or observe such phenomena. He therefore deals with them magically. (1944:198)
Malinowski hypothesized that limited “scientific” knowledge of illness and disease led “primitive” man to conclude
that illnesses are caused by sorcery and countered by magic.
Malinowski—a man in ill health much of his life—wrote, “The
sick man, primitive or civilized, wants to feel that something
can be done. He craves for miracles” (1944:199). Magic persists
in societies because it appears to work; it functions. Beyond
this apparent utility, Malinowski argued that magic has a pro-
found function in exerting human control over those dimensions that are otherwise outside of our control.
[Magic] is always strongest there, where vital interests are concerned; where violent passions or emotions are awakened;
when mysterious forces are opposed to man’s endeavours; and
when he has to recognise that there is something which eludes
his most careful calculations, his most conscientious preparations and efforts. (Malinowski 1922:395–396)
A classic example is the way that fishing magic is organized:
when fishing occurs inside the protected coral reef where “it is
possible to make a catch in weather and under conditions in
which no other kind of fishing is practicable . . . no magic whatever is practiced in connection with this industry” (Malinowski
1965:17). In contrast, the magic associated with ocean fishing,
sailing, and canoes is complex and pervasive, because the dangers and risks are greater.
Similarly, magic surrounding gardening is extensive and considered an indispensable part of cultivation. In terms of economic
activity, “agriculture always takes precedence. The districts rich in
produce are on the whole politically dominant as well as economically the most wealthy,” Malinowski observed (1965:12). “Garden
produce is the foundation of wealth throughout the area” (Malinowski 1965:12). Garden magic is public, direct, and extensive; the
village garden magician is either the headman, his heir, or closest
male relative, and therefore he is either the most important or next
most important person in a community. Garden magic and garden work are distinct but inseparable. Malinowski wrote,
Magic and practical work are, in native ideas, inseparable from
each other, though they are not confused. Garden magic and
garden work run in one intertwined series of consecutive effort, form one continuous story, and must be the subject matter
of one narrative.
To the natives, magic is as indispensable to the success of
gardens as competent and effective husbandry. It is essential to
the fertility of the soil: [they say] “The garden magic utters
magic by mouth; the magical virtue enters the soil.” Magic is to
them an almost natural element in the growth of the gardens. I
have often been asked: “What is the magic which is done in
your country over gardens—is it like ours or is it different?”
They did not seem at all to approve of our ways as I described
them. (1965:62–63)
We lack the space to describe garden rituals; Malinowski
devotes over 150 pages to the horticultural and magical activities associated with gardens and the crop cycle. But the role of
magic in cultivation, Malinowski believed, captured its essential
function—an attempt to extend control over uncontrollable elements of nature. In this sense, Malinowski’s analysis of magic
reflects his functional approach to culture.