Paradox Regained: Freeman's Margaret Mead and Samoa

Typee or Happar? A frightful death at the hands of the fiercest of cannibals, or a kindly reception from a gentler race of savages? Which?…The part of the valley in which we found ourselves appeared to be altogether uninhabited.     

Margaret Mead and Samoa: Coming of Age in Fact and Fiction

Derek Freeman's 1983 critique of Margaret Mead's Coming of Age in Samoa has prompted one of the most heated debates in recent anthropological memory. Yet even Mead's defenders have generally accepted the view that she saw Samoa as a romantic paradise. Here I argue that a careful reading of Coming of Age shows quite a different picture. In my reanalysis, Mead's work emerges as complex and somewhat enigmatic, with facile conclusions standing in contrast to much rich and sensitive ethnography. My goal in this article is to highlight what Mead actually said, pointing up the notable discrepancy between the popular perception and her actual account.     

Margaret Mead: A Biographical Sketch

This statement provides a brief outline of some aspects of Margaret Mead's life history with the expectation that it may help readers to place the several papers in this issue in context.