Anthropology Quote by Bronislaw Malinowski
![“[W.H.R.] Rivers is the Rider Haggard of anthropology; I shall be the Conrad.” quote by Bronislaw Malinowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/3cf/bronislaw-malinowski-37631_anthropology_w-h-r-rivers-is-the-rider-haggard-of-ant_420896.jpg)
“[W.H.R.] Rivers is the Rider Haggard of anthropology; I shall be the Conrad.”
About This Quote
Source Article: The New Anthropology, 1922
Rivers is compared to a prolific adventure writer, while the speaker aspires to be a literary master like Conrad.
In simple terms: Rivers is a bold explorer; I aim to be a great novelist.
Key Takeaway
Embrace boldness and literary ambition.
Themes
anthropology
literature
ambition
Mood
reflective
aspirational
Type
analytical
inspirational
When to use this quote
- fieldwork
- creative writing
- academic publishing
- cultural analysis
Key Concepts
colonial critique
self‑identification
Questions to Reflect On
- How does literary ambition influence scholarly work?
- What balance between adventure and rigor is needed?
A Different Perspective
Risk of self‑aggrandizement may obscure humility.
![“For no sooner had I begun to read this great work [Frasier, The Golden Bough ], than I became immersed in it and enslaved by it. I realized then that anthropology, as presented by Sir James Frazer, is a great science, worthy of as much devotion as any of her elder and more exact sister studies…” quote by Bronislaw Malinowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/011/bronislaw-malinowski-37631_anthropology_for-no-sooner-had-i-begun-to-read-this-g_1356364.jpg)
![“Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… [The anthropologist] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner alienation as an urban intellectual.” quote by Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/fe1/susan-sontag-332_alienation_anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-a_15322.jpg)
