DOCSLIB.ORG

Mead-Freeman Controversy

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Mead-Freeman Controversy MEAD-FREEMAN CONTROVERSY [oEFlteN, H. "Mathematical Anthropology." In Models of Elementary Structures. Leiden: Leiden Biennial Reoiexu of Anthropology, 1969, editedby University, 1949. Press, Wnrl, A. "On the Algebraic Study of Certain Tlpes J. Siegel. Stanford, Calif,: Stanford University 1970. of Marriage Laws (Murngin System)." Appendix Claude )RIoN, P., and G. De Meun. "La question Murngin, to The Elementary Structures of Kinship by un artefact de la litt6rature anthropologique." L6vi-Strauss, translated byJames Harle Bell et al. L'Homme 20 (1980): 39-70. Boston: Beacon Press, 1969. In Hand- Ay, PAUL, ed. Explorations in Mathematical Anthro- WHtrn, D. "Mathematical Anthropology." by palagy. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1971. book af Social and Cultural Anthrapology, edited Rand McNaIly,7973. ,EHMAN, F., and K. Wrrz. "Prolegemena to a Formal J. Honigmann. Chicago: Theory of Kinship." ln Genealogical Mathematics, Wutrt, H. An Anatamlt of Kinship: Mathematical te d Ro I e s. Englewood edited by Paul Ballonoff. Paris: Mouton, 1,974- M o de ts for S truc tures of Cumula N Prentice-Hall, 19 63. ,or,'i-Stn tuss, Creuon. S tructural Anthropo logy, !958, Cliffs, J.: WHtre, Lpslrn A. "Sociology, Physics, and Math- translated by Claire Jacobson and G. G. Schoepf. White: Ethnological Essays, New York Basic Books, 1963 -1'976. ematics." ln Leslie A. B. Dillingham and R. Carneiro. The Elernentary Structures of Kinship' 1'949, reprint edited by University of New Mexico, 1987. translated byJames Harle Beil et al. Boston: Beacon Albuquerque: Press, 1969. ,w,P. Foundations of Kinship Matheznaticl Nanking: Academia Sinica, 1986. MEAD-FREEMAN ,ucICH, P. Genealogical Symmetry: Rational Founda' CONTROVERSY tians of Australian Kinship. Armidale, Austraiia: n 1928 Margaret Mead's Cotning ofAge in Samoa Light Stone, 1987. I Ib...-. a best-seller and, ultimately, one of 4trcHeLL, J., .d. Numerical Techniques in Social anthropology's enduring ciassics. In her book, Mead Anthropology. Philadelphia: Institute for the Study contrasted Samoan adolescence with U.S. adolescence of Human Issues, 1980. and found that Samoan adolescence was not neces- rla.npr-, StecrRIED F. The Theorl af Sacial Structure. sarily a time of "storm and stress" as it was in the London: Cohen & West, 1955. United States. She argued that because adolescence )Etncn, CHARLES SANDERS. "The Essence of Math- varied cross-culturally, biologywas not destiny. Mead ematics." In The World ofMathematics, reprint edited also found that Samoan sexual conduct was permis- by James Roy Newman. New York: Simon & sive compared to American sexual conduct at that Schuster, 1956. time. lnao, D. "Kinship Algebra: A Mathematical Study of Kinship Structure." In Genealogical Mathemat- In the following decades, Mead went on to a long lrs, edited by Paul Ballonoff. Paris: Mouton, L974. and distinguished careerl by the 1970s she was con- 'An Algebraic Account of the American sidered America's first woman of science. Meadt work Kinship Terminology." Current Anthropology 25 on Samoa was widely accepted by the public, but after (1e8a): 417-449. her death Coming of Age in Samoa was subjected to . "The Utility of Mathematical Constructs an extensive critical review by Derek Freeman, an in Building Archaeological Theory." In M at b ema t i c s emeritus professor at Australian National University and Information Science in Archaeology: A Flexible with considerable {ield experience inWestern Samoa. Frameuork, edited by A. Voorrips. Bonn: Flolos, The Mead-Freeman controversy began early in 1983, t990. when the Nertt York Times ran a major article sum- Rpeo, D., and C. BruRpNs. "KAES: An Expert marizing Freeman's new book, Margaret Mead and System for the Algebraic Analysis of Kinship Ter- Samaa; The Making and Unmaking of anAnthropologi- minologies." Journal af Quantitatiae Anthropology cat Myth. The title conveyed Freeman's thinking. 2 (7990): 353-393. Mead's Samoa was a m1th, and her book was a de- RtNrREw, C., and K. Coorn, eds. Transformations: ceptively bad piece of research authored by a young Mathematical Approaches ta Cultural Change. New anthropologistwho did a minimum of reai fieldwork, York Academic Press' 1979' had little understanding of Samoan culture, and who TloN Srn Fer, F. E. Representing Kinship: Simple naively believed Samoan lies about their private lives. 757 MEAD - FREEMAN CONTBOVEBSY on Samoan adolescence' like her had little conflict; Mead's findings For Mead, Samoan adolescence of the 1920s' fieldwork, need to be viewed in light was riddled with conflict and aggres- for Freeman, it century the UnitedState^s was rape was almost In the early twentieth sion. Although Mead stated that found sexually restrictive society' When Mead found Samoa to have one of stiil a nonexistent, Fr."-u'l Samoan adolescent,girls she Far from being that almost half the the highest rates of rape in the world' and an.even studied had heterosexual experience' Freeman argued that Samoans were o..rnirrirr., had homosexual experielce' sh1 to a greater higher percentage 1o puritanical, probably carrying virginity soctety iho"gl-tt that Samoa was a permissive known to anthropology'An do,rbt i"tr"-" than any culture States at that time' Al- most tnflu- .o-pur"d ,il ft ,n. United uproar ensued as a great anthropologist's engaglng adolescent Samoans were privately question' though ential work was called into a restrictive public ir-r ,"l"tal activity, there was also and sometimes In the normal course of academic controversy' moraliry that condemned this behavior have been duly contribution lies in his Freeman's claims, like Mead's, would ,"rr"."ly p.rnlshed it' Freeman's their strengths' morality and the reviewed and evaluated in terms of d.r..iptlrl of this restrictive public Mead's pro- resulted from the shame weaknesses, and limitations, but given clandestine nature ofsex that quickly became a sexuai activiry including fessional stature' the controversy ur-ra a"r-rg., associated with Virtu- thus less permls- public spectacle. Media coverage intensified' ,up.. Sutoun public morality was and news magazine but sexual utty major U'S' newsPaper ,i r" thur-, M"ud uckrtowiedged' Private "rr.ry toured Freeman argues' reiort.d on the controversy' Freeman himself behavior was less restrictive than and other talk the country, appearing on Donahue con- In comparative perspective, Samoan sexual pro.lui-"d thut he had "staggered the shows. H" extreme as portrayed by either Mead fraud no less signifi- duct was not as I and exposed a establishment" the world's many cultures' Sa- earlier in the or Freeman. Among cant than the notorious Piltdown hoax Mead was neither as sexually permissive as These escalating claims further moa t*.r-rti"th century' as Freeman thought believed it to be nor as restrictive the controversy' People felt compelled personalized Samoa fails somewhere in the middle could not respond (she it to be. Rather' to tuk sides. Mead herself sexually permis- on a continuum between the most years earlier), but American anthro- had died several the most sexually restrictive.cultures' that Freemaris critique was sive and pologists generally thought carry v1rg1n1ry t0 Freeman's statement that Samoans exaggerated and misguided' culture is not sup- a greater extreme than any other book and the Since the publication of Freeman's ported by cross-cultural studies' an enormous amount ensuing publiciry there has been neglected biol- Freeman's contention that Mead the controversy' more of material published on Perhaps is misleading' Mead of an- ogy while emphasizing culture uny otht' controversy in the history than on as a universal biologicai process' engage both anthro- ,ri.*"d adolescence thropology' and it continues to easier she found the transition to adulthood The controversy is complex' Because pologistJand the pubiic' reasoned that bi- some cultures than others' Mead of factual' theoretical' historical' in i.t,roiui.g a number this variation' a line of has ology alone could not explain and even personal issues'Thus' there .orr-rpururiu., is one of the bases of modern anthro- there is no final urgil"rl, that been no resolution to Jate' Although biology po-logy. Freemans proposal that culture and the following generalizations seem reason- consensus' irlr.#, is one that Mead herself embraced' able. that Mead and Freeman de- in the1920s' Today' the Samoa Mead's work in Samoawas pioneering no longer scribe, composed mostly of rural villages' has shown, based on his research in but as Freeman changed a gtea;t deal slnce ts open to Su-o"n lives have 1940s and thereaftet, Coming of Age "rirtr. the fieldwork in the 1920s and since WorldWar errors of fact and interpretation Mead's criticism. There are began his fieldwork in seen II, uborl, the time Freeman overstatements in the book that can be as well as Almost one-half of all Samoans no longer the past' Mead's later the isiands. more clearly today than in than 40 percent live in the islands' By the 1990s more fieldwork in other areas of the Paci{ic demonstrates of Western Samoans had permanently migrated learned much from her research in Samoa' that she and more than 60 percent of American of many innovative works overseas' Co,**g ofAgrwas the first So much has Samoans had also left the islands' tfrut.Jni.ib"rrted to her stature as an anthropologist' 758 MEDICALANTHBeleles{ has created a ethnologists, and linguists controversy 1s more biologists, that the Mead-Freeman any single changed field that is autonomous from about Samoa today' -subdiscipline'and uboui th" past than ;;;.;*
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Fateful Hoaxing of Margaret Mead: a Cautionary Tale
    The “Fateful Hoaxing” of Margaret Mead: A Cautionary Tale Author(s): Paul Shankman Source: Current Anthropology, Vol. 54, No. 1 (February 2013), pp. 51-70 Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/669033 . Accessed: 03/04/2013 14:08 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. The University of Chicago Press and Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Current Anthropology. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 128.138.170.182 on Wed, 3 Apr 2013 14:08:27 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Current Anthropology Volume 54, Number 1, February 2013 51 The “Fateful Hoaxing” of Margaret Mead A Cautionary Tale by Paul Shankman CAϩ Online-Only Material: Supplements A and B In the Mead-Freeman controversy, Derek Freeman’s historical reconstruction of the alleged hoaxing of Margaret Mead in 1926 relied on three interviews with Fa’apua’a Fa’amu¯, Mead’s “principal informant,” who stated that she and another Samoan woman had innocently joked with Mead about their private lives.
    [Show full text]
  • Volume 29, Issue 2
    History of Anthropology Newsletter Volume 29 Issue 2 December 2002 Article 1 January 2002 Volume 29, Issue 2 Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/han Part of the Anthropology Commons, and the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons Recommended Citation (2002) "Volume 29, Issue 2," History of Anthropology Newsletter: Vol. 29 : Iss. 2 , Article 1. Available at: https://repository.upenn.edu/han/vol29/iss2/1 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/han/vol29/iss2/1 For more information, please contact [email protected]. H istory of A' nthropology N ewsletter XXIX:2 2002 History of Anthropology Newsletter VOLUME XXIX, NUMBER 2 DECEMBER 2002 TABLE OF CONTENTS CLIO'S FANCY: DOCUMENTS TO PIQUE THE IDSTORICAL IMAGINATION British Colonialists, Ibo Traders. and Idoma Democrats: A Marxist Anthropologist Enters "The Field" in Nigeria, 1950-51 ..•.•... 3 SOURCES FOR THE IDSTORY OF ANTHROPOLOGY .....•.....•..•.....12 RESEARCH IN PROGRESS ..•••.•.•..•...••.•.•...•..•....•....•..... 12 BI6LIOGRAPIDCA ARCANA L American Anthropologist Special Centennial Issue . • . 13 ll. Recent Dissertations .......................................... 13 IlL Recent Work by Subscribers .•••....•..........•..••......•.. 13 ill. Suggested by Our Readers .••..•••........••.•.• o ••••• o ••••••• 15 The Editorial Committee Robert Bieder Regna Darnell Indiana University University of Western Ontario Curtis Hinsley Dell Hymes Northern Arizona University University of Virginia George W. Stocking William Sturtevant University of Chicago Smithsonian Institution Subscription rates (Each volume contains two numbers: June and December) Individual subscribers (North America) $6.00 Student subscribers 4.00 Institutional subscribers 8.00 Subscribers outside North America 8.00 Checks for renewals, new subscriptions or back numbers should be made payable (in United States dollars only) to: History of Anthropology Newsletter (or to HAN).
    [Show full text]
  • The Mead–Freeman Controversy Continues
    POSXXX10.1177/0048393117753067Philosophy of the Social SciencesShankman 753067research-article2018 Discussion Philosophy of the Social Sciences 2018, Vol. 48(3) 309 –332 The Mead–Freeman © The Author(s) 2018 Reprints and permissions: Controversy Continues: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav https://doi.org/10.1177/0048393117753067DOI: 10.1177/0048393117753067 A Reply to Ian Jarvie journals.sagepub.com/home/pos Paul Shankman1 Abstract In the Mead–Freeman controversy, Ian Jarvie has supported much of Derek Freeman’s critique of Margaret Mead’s Coming of Age in Samoa, arguing that Samoan society was sexually repressive rather than sexually permissive, that Mead was “hoaxed” about Samoan sexual conduct, that Mead was an “absolute” cultural determinist, that Samoa was a definitive case refuting Mead’s “absolute” cultural determinism, that Mead’s book changed the direction of cultural anthropology, and that Freeman’s personal conduct during the controversy was thoroughly professional. This article calls into question these empirical and theoretical arguments, often using Freeman’s own field research and publications. Keywords Mead, Freeman, culture, biology, anthropology 1. Introduction I would like to thank Ian Jarvie (2012) for providing an opportunity to clarify some of the important issues in the Mead–Freeman controversy, now in its fourth decade. Jarvie’s article-length review of my book, The Trashing of Margaret Mead: Anatomy of an Anthropological Controversy (Shankman Received 29 November 2017 1University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA Corresponding Author: Paul Shankman, University of Colorado Boulder, 233 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0233, USA. Email: [email protected] 310 Philosophy of the Social Sciences 48(3) 2009), raises issues that have been present throughout the controversy but deserve further explication.
    [Show full text]
  • What Is Anthropology?
    Chapter 1 What Is Anthropology? nthropology is the scientific study of the origin, the behaviour, and the A physical, social, and cultural development of humans. Anthropologists seek to understand what makes us human by studying human ancestors through archaeological excavation and by observing living cultures throughout the world. In this chapter, you will learn about different fields of anthropology and the major schools of thought, important theories, perspectives, and research within anthropology, as well as the work of influential anthropologists. You’ll also learn methods for conducting anthropological research and learn how to formulate your own research questions and record information. Chapter Expectations By the end of this chapter, you will: • summarize and compare major theories, perspectives, and research methods in anthropology • identify the significant contributions of influential anthropologists • outline the key ideas of the major anthropological schools of thought, and explain how they can be used to analyze features of cultural systems Fields of Anthropology • explain significant issues in different areas of anthropology Primatology Dian Fossey (1932–1985) • explain the main research methods for conducting anthropological Physical Anthropology Archaeology Cultural Anthropology research Biruté Galdikas (1946–) Jane Goodall (1934–) Sue Savage-Rumbaugh (1946–) Archaeology Forensic Human Variation Ethnology Linguistic Anthropology Key Terms Prehistoric Anthropology Charles Darwin Ruth Benedict (1887–1948) Noam Chomsky
    [Show full text]
  • The Iban Dairies of Monica Freeman 1949-1951. Including Ethnographical Drawings, Sketches, Paintings, Photographs and Letters, Laura P
    Moussons Recherche en sciences humaines sur l’Asie du Sud-Est 17 | 2011 Les frontières « mouvantes » de Birmanie The Iban Dairies of Monica Freeman 1949-1951. Including Ethnographical Drawings, Sketches, Paintings, Photographs and Letters, Laura P. Appell- Warren (ed.) Philipps: Borneo Research Council, monographs series n° 11, 2009, XLII + 643 p., glossary, appendix, biblio-graphy, illustrations (maps, figures and color plates) Antonio Guerreiro Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/moussons/642 ISSN: 2262-8363 Publisher Presses Universitaires de Provence Printed version Date of publication: 1 September 2011 Number of pages: 178-180 ISBN: 978-2-85399-790-4 ISSN: 1620-3224 Electronic reference Antonio Guerreiro, « The Iban Dairies of Monica Freeman 1949-1951. Including Ethnographical Drawings, Sketches, Paintings, Photographs and Letters, Laura P. Appell-Warren (ed.) », Moussons [Online], 17 | 2011, Online since 25 September 2012, connection on 19 April 2019. URL : http:// journals.openedition.org/moussons/642 Les contenus de la revue Moussons sont mis à disposition selon les termes de la Licence Creative Commons Attribution - Pas d’Utilisation Commerciale - Pas de Modification 4.0 International. 178 Comptes rendus / Reviews The Iban Dairies of Monica Freeman under Leach’s supervision at Cambridge’s 1949-1951. Including ethnographical University Department of Anthropology2. drawings, sketches, paintings, pho- While in the field, at the end of 1949, tographs and letters, Laura P. Appell- Derek Freeman decided to concentrate on his Warren (ed.), Philipps: Borneo Research ethnographical and ethnogical notes while Council, monographs series n° 11, 2009, Monica was to write the ieldwork’s dairies. XLII + 643 p., glossary, appendix, biblio- Although she had no formal training in art, she made beautiful and very detailed ethno- graphy, illustrations (maps, figures and graphic drawings, sketches and paintings.
    [Show full text]
  • Downloaded from Brill.Com09/25/2021 05:58:42PM Via Free Access 84 King
    Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 173 (2017) 83–113 bki brill.com/bki Claiming Authority Derek Freeman, His Legacy and Interpretations of the Iban of Borneo Victor T. King* Center for Ethnic Studies and Development, Chiang Mai University, and University of Leeds [email protected]; [email protected] Abstract The anthropological enterprise of translating other cultures is explored in the case of the Iban of Borneo. Derek Freeman’s demonstration of authority in his analyses of Iban religion and social organization, his establishment of a lineage of authority, and his development of an evolutionary biological-cultural interactionist paradigm is critically evaluated. Freeman’s legacy of authority, as expressed in Michael Heppell’s detailed interpretation of Iban woven cloths and their motifs and patterns in terms of sexual selection, is then addressed as a case study. It is proposed that in this arena of Iban culture Freeman’s and Heppell’s authority should be questioned; their work raises major issues about Western assumptions that the arts of ‘oral cultures’ contain a language of symbols. Such assumptions about art forms as ‘texts’ to be read are often misplaced and can be traced back to the ethnocentric tendencies of writers from literate cultures in their search for meaning. Keywords authority – Iban – Borneo – Freeman – culture – biology – textiles * I am enormously grateful to Dr Traude Gavin for providing me with information on her more recent research into Iban textiles, and for alerting me to relevant material in Derek Freeman’s field notes and her discussions with Monica Freeman in 1993.
    [Show full text]
  • Fa'afafine and Whakawahine
    A comparative study of the fa’afafine of Samoa and the whakawahine of Aotearoa/New Zealand by Ashleigh McFall A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts by thesis in Gender and Women’s Studies Victoria University of Wellington 2013 ii Abstract This study explores the meaning of the fa’afafine of Samoa and the whakawahine of Aotearoa/New Zealand. I compare and contrast the experiences of six fa’afafine and four whakawahine. I also examine the historical evidence for the existence of fa’afafine in Samoa and whakawahine in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The theoretical approaches underlying this research incorporate feminist, indigenous, and queer aspects but oral history is the primary theory and method used. As a fa’afafine who researched her own identity and whakawahine, the complexities of insider and outsider are explored. This thesis discusses how narrators understand and/or make meaning of western categories of identification such as gay, transgender, drag queen and/or transsexual. These categories are largely rejected; preference for the culturally specific terms fa’afafine (Samoan) and whakawahine (Maori) are demonstrated. Narrators take issue with western researchers’ focus on sexual aspects of fa’afafine and whakawahine. For them, gender role, specifically feminine dress, behaviour and activities more accurately characterise their identities. This thesis argues that fa’afafine and whakawahine are fluid identities. How one behaves as a woman varies, but narrators insist that fa’afafine and whakawahine are born not made that way, and ‘feel’ like women. The meaning of fa’afafine and whakawahine is not static; westernisation, colonization and the availability of gender reassignment treatment have all impacted on how each narrator defines her identity.
    [Show full text]
  • The Schoolyard Gate: Schooling and Childhood in Global Perspective
    The Schoolyard Gate: Schooling and Childhood in Global Perspective Kathryn M. Anderson-Levitt Journal of Social History, Volume 38, Number 4, Summer 2005, pp. 987-1006 (Article) Published by Oxford University Press DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/jsh.2005.0042 For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/184089 Access provided by UCLA Library (25 Jan 2017 03:49 GMT) THE SCHOOLYARD GATE: SCHOOLING AND CHILDHOOD IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE By Kathryn M. Anderson-Levitt University of Michigan-Dearborn Deux et deux quatre quatre et quatre huit huit et huit font seize Répétez! dit le maître. Deux et deux quatre quatre et quatre huit huit et huit font seize. Mais voilà l’oiseau-lyre qui passe dans le ciel l’enfant le voit l’enfant l’entend l’ enfant l’appelle: Sauve-moi joue avec moi oiseau! ... Jacques Prévert1 Wanting Out, Wanting In The ultimate task here is to ask how schooling as a global phenomenon affects the experiences of children around the world and the cultural construction of childhood. But before I can suggest directions for research on those questions, I must ask whether or in what sense schooling is in fact a global phenomenon. Just as it is inaccurate to conceive of global cognitive effects of “literacy” be- cause literacy is not a single thing in lived experience, so it would be inaccurate to think of schooling as having a single effect on children, for it represents dif- ferent lived experiences. Still, certain patterns or “grammars of schooling” have persisted over the long term across wide regions.2 It is the first task of this essay to determine whether we can now discern a particular grammar of schooling that encompasses the whole world.
    [Show full text]
  • Margaret Mead's Coming of Age in Ethnography
    Document generated on 10/01/2021 9:10 p.m. Ethnologies Margaret Mead’s Coming of Age in Ethnography Storying Scientific Adventure in the South Seas Jacqueline McLeod Jouer Article abstract Play A lightening rod for an array of criticism, Coming of Age in Samoa also attained Volume 32, Number 1, 2010 monumental popularity with both scholarly and popular reading audiences, convincing many that it captured the sexual and social lives of Samoan URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/045219ar adolescent girls and that North American girls might be instructed by this DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/045219ar portrait. Taking a “recovery and reappraisal” approach, this article argues that the text is neither a collection of detailed, field note-anchored observations nor a cross cultural critique, but a love story to place. The text has much in See table of contents common with postmodern conceptions of ethnography, which acknowledge “writing culture” as mediated by interpretive, representational and linguistic considerations. Like many postmodern ethnographers, Mead self-consciously Publisher(s) constructs an authorial position rather than attempting to remain absent and objective. Part of the persona she constructs is that she is a scientist sharing Association Canadienne d'Ethnologie et de Folklore data; yet she no sooner invokes standards of scientific rigor than she shifts course to promise us a good “tale”. If contemporary readers can read the text ISSN through a postmodern lens, when she wrote, her approach was 1481-5974 (print) unprecedented. Her awareness of transgressing scientific method emerges in 1708-0401 (digital) the “Introduction” to the book, where she self-reflects on her decisions about authorship as performance and text as storied, artful and intimate.
    [Show full text]
  • Shankman Revised
    Research TOC SEX, LIES, AND ANTHROPOLOGISTS: MARGARET MEAD, DEREK FREEMAN, AND SAMOA Paul Shankman efore Madonna and Sex, before Wilt Chamberlain and his alleged twenty thousand sexual partners, before the televi- Bsion show “Studs,” and before “900” numbers, there was Polynesia. The people of Polynesia have a reputation for sexual license, and this reputation, deserved or not, has contributed to our own fascination with the subject of sex. Our images of tropical isles, blue lagoons, and swaying palms in the beautiful South Pacific are intimately linked with ideas about sexual paradise, and numerous accounts from early explorers to modern anthropolo- gists indicate that some Polynesian cultures fulfill at least some of our sexual fantasies. Among these cultures, Samoa is legendary. Ever since the publication of Margaret Mead’s Coming of Age in Samoa in 1928, public opinion has elevated the Samoans to the heights of sexual superstardom. Mead herself felt that of all the people she studied, the Samoans had the sunniest and easiest atti- tudes towards sex. Margaret Mead was no ordinary anthropologist. At the time of her death in 1978 she was the best-known anthropologist in the world; she was also America’s first woman of science, and one of the three best-known women in the United States. Mead authored popular books for the reading public, wrote columns for maga- zines such as Redbook, lectured widely, and almost single-handedly turned anthropology into a household word. Almost everyone knew who Margaret Mead was, and most people knew of Samoa too, for Coming of Age in Samoa remained her best-known work.
    [Show full text]
  • The Parables of a Samoan Divine
    THE PARABLES OF A SAMOAN DIVINE An Analysis of Samoan Texts of the 1860’s By Leulu F. Va’a A thesis submitted for the degTee of Master of Arts at the Australian National University. February 1987 1 Table of Contents Declaration iii Acknowledgements iv Abstract v 1. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1. The Nature of Hermeneutics 2 1.2. Historical Distance and Interpretation 3 1.3. Explanation and Understanding 4 1.4. Application of Hermeneutics 6 1.5. The Problem of Meaning 8 1.6. The Hymn Book 10 1.7. The Penisimani Manuscripts 12 1.8. The Thesis 17 2. Traditional Samoan Society 18 2.1. Political Organisation 26 2.2. Economic Organisation 29 2.3. Religious Organisation 31 3. The Coming of the Missionaries 39 3.1. Formation of the LMS 40 3.2. The Society’s Missionaries 41 3.3. Early Christian Influences 43 3.4. John Williams 45 3.5. Missionaries in Samoa 47 3.6. The Native Teachers 48 3.7. Reasons for Evangelical Success 51 3.8. Aftermath 54 4. The Folktales of Penisimani 57 4.1. Tala As Myths 57 4.2. Pemsimani’s Writings 59 4.3. Summary 71 5. The Parables of Penisimani 72 5.1. Leenhardt and Myth 73 5.2. Summary 86 6. The Words of Penisimani 87 6.1. The Power of the Word 88 6.2. Summary IOC 7. Myth, Parable and Signification 101 7.1. The Components of the Parable 102 7.1.1. The Cultural Element 103 7.1.2. The Christian Message 104 7.2.
    [Show full text]
  • Margaret Mead and the Culture of Forgetting in Anthropology: a Response to Paul Roscoe
    MICAELA Dl LEONARDO Margaret Mead and the Culture of Forgetting in Anthropology: A Response to Paul Roscoe Only connect. research, and write and speak. And this is what is curious about Paul Roscoe's piece: its anachronism, its radical lack —E. M. Forster of a sense of the historical shifts in anthropology and in the world, since Margaret Mead and Reo Fortune wrote EARLY A QUARTER CENTURY AGO, the late Eric about the Mountain Arapesh in the 1930s. Thus, while I NWolf published a ringing editorial in the New York appreciate Roscoe's long familiarity with Papua New Times titled "They Divide and Subdivide, and Call It An- Guinea (PNG) populations and his archival work, this lack thropology" (1980). Wolf's concern was the proliferation of "history and history of theory" connection means that of mutually uncommunicative subfields in our discipline both his framing of the question at hand and his empirical to the detriment of any overarching set of understandings claims leave much to be desired. Let me elaborate. of the human condition. He laid out his larger history-of- First, I certainly agree with Roscoe on the importance thought vision in Europe and the People without History of revisiting Margaret Mead's oeuvre. Mead is still, as I (1982), in which he argued for our discipline's release wrote in Exotics at Home, "the most well-known anthro- from the "bounds of its own definitions" in an historical pologist across this century in the United States, and prob- political-economic vision uniting the social sciences and ably the world.
    [Show full text]