THE CORRESPONDENCE ASSOCIATED WITH MARGARET MEAD'S SAMOA RESEARCH: WHAT DOES IT REALLY TELL US?

Authors

James Côté, University of Western OntarioFollow

Abstract

Derek Freeman based much of his critique of Margaret Mead's Samoa research on the letters she exchanged with Franz Boas and others. However, as I have indicated elsewhere (Cöté 1998, 2000a, 2000b, 2000c), Freeman seriously misrepresented the content and intention of these letters. The present article extends the examination of archival material by reviewing letters from the late 1920s associated with the publication of Coming of Age in Samoa, which reveal that Mead originally wrote it as a commercial book, and that she was heavily influenced by her publisher to further sensationalize her account of life in Samoa. Additional archived letters from the 1960s reveal that Mead found herself bedeviled by Freeman after she declined to sponsor him in American psychoanalytic circles. This little-known correspondence provides an alternate explanation to Freeman's hoaxing theory, and for Freeman's persistence in attempting to discredit Mead's Samoa research.

Recommended Citation

Côté, James (2005) "THE CORRESPONDENCE ASSOCIATED WITH MARGARET MEAD'S SAMOA RESEARCH: WHAT DOES IT REALLY TELL US?," Pacific Studies Journal: Vol. 28: No. 2, Article 4.
Available at: https://digitalcollections.byuh.edu/pacific-studies-journal/vol28/iss2/4