Oedipus in the Trobriands

<p>Spiro challenges the argument of Bronislaw Malinowski that the matrilineal society of the Trobriand Islands produced a psychological constellation -- a matrilineal complex -- different from Freud's Oedipus complex and the generalization regarding the restrictive provenance of the Oepidus complex to which it gave rise. Spiro undertakes a reanalysis of Malinowski's data and shows that there is enough to suggest the presence of a strong Oedipus complex.<br><br><i>Melford E. Spiro</i> is professor emeritus of anthropology at the University of California San Diego where he founded the Anthropology Department in 1968. His other works include <i>Gender and Culture Oedipus in the Trobriands</i> and <i>Culture and Human Nature.</i></p>