Books : Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilisation (Perennial Classics)
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.099613
EAN: 9780688050337
ISBN: 0688050336
Label: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 256
Publication Date: March 01, 2001
Publisher: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Release Date: February 20, 2001
Sales Rank: 198890
Studio: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
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Product Description:
Rarely do science and literature come together in the same book. When they do -- as in Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, for example -- they become classics, quoted and studied by scholars and the general public alike.
Margaret Mead accomplished this remarkable feat not once but several times, beginning with Coming of Age in Samoa. It details her historic journey to American Samoa, taken where she was just twenty-three, where she did her first fieldwork. Here, for the first time, she presented to the public the idea that the individual experience of developmental stages could be shaped by cultural demands and expectations. Adolescence, she wrote, might be more or less stormy, and sexual development more or less problematic in different cultures. The "civilized" world, she taught us had much to learn from the "primitive." Now this groundbreaking, beautifully written work as been reissued for the centennial of her birth, featuring introductions by Mary Pipher and by Mead's daughter, Mary Catherine Bateson.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
Much of the debate about the accuracy of Mead's characterizations of Samoans suffers from two difficulties.
1. Criticism of her work by Samoans themselves is attacked with, "well they would say that," the assumption being that Mead is honest and they are not, or that Mead understood their society better after a few months of living there than do those who've lived there all their lives. Snobbery, yes. But almost every profession suffers from a 'we versus the masses' snobbery, including anthropology. Those would be Mead's defenders.
2. Criticism by other anthropologists who have spent time in Samoa and differ with Mead is attacked with the claim that Samoan culture may have changed since Mead's visit, perhaps under the influence of Christian missionaries. Again, Samoans who can remember those pre-missionary times are branded liars.
In one sense, this isn't that bad a call. If virtually all Samoans are liars today, then why should anyone believe what Mead claims they told her? Bragging about sexual conquests is at least as common as covering them up. And keep in mind that Mead is just one person, and one with a less than sterling reputation for integrity. Believing Samoans over just her isn't that hard to justify.
But moving beyond that, what's obviously needed in this dispute is someone from the outside (negating #1), who visited Samoa before Mead did (negating #2). It would also help if such a person were scientifically trained ... Read More
Rating:  -
Dr. Meade truly was one of the most well-known American Anthropologists in the 20th Century. Her appeal to the common person through her writings in popular magazines sparked the interest on Anthropological studies for many people from all walks of life. This book was her first masterpiece. This book is a requirement for any student of Anthropology or anyone else who wishes to learn how to take data from interviews and other observations and put them on paper.
Rating: -
Please do not buy this book. It is a lie about Samoans. How could she have learned to speak well enough to comunicate with Samoans in 5 months.
watch "Margaret Mead and Samoa"
or read Derek Freeman's work against the book.
The book is all a lie!
Rating: -
I was the Medical Director of American Samoa a few years after Mead's six
month in Ta'u, a village in the Manu'a group and spent over two years there. On my trips to Manu'a I found and talked to Chief Tufele and those Mead worked with. With two years study of Hawaiian I was able to converse with them quite easily. Mead studied Samoan for only six weeks in Pago Pago.
There are many errors and self-projections in the work of a 23-year old girl fresh out of college on her first field trip, but not enough to incur
Freeman's wrath. About half of his criticisms are not true.
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In answer to "Mead's Samoa hoax has been exposed" (see below), which is based largely upon Derek Freeman's work.
Derek Freeman's work has also engendered debate, given its own problems. Both methodology and (inevitably) conclusions have been shown to be suspect. For instance: some of Mead's subjects survived long enough into old age to be questioned by Freeman, whereupon they stated that they lied to Mead regarding their past behavior. With what certainty can it be presumed that they are telling the truth now?
But I shan't go on. Suffice it to say that it is of little use to base a critique of one book (Mead's) based upon another of equally unsound and uncertain scholarship (Freeman's). It is simply dishonest of the writer of that review to attempt to discredit Mead by quoting Freeman, while (conveniently) omitting to mention that Freeman's work is not accepted either.
Without being able to either substantiate Mead or debunk her, her book remains fascinating for its own sake, more than for its admittedly tenuous conclusions, and is interesting not least for the insight that it gives into the nature of its author.
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