Ridiculing this last claim, Derek Freeman, the book's chief critic, argues that its subjects were already acculturated by Christian missionaries and that presupposing a society untroubled by violence and jealousy led the author to ignore informants' evidence in favor of the cultural determinist theories of Franz Boas.
Elements of stress present in this work include the aumaga society, called "the strength of the village," and the subsequent title of matai. The female equivalent of the latter was the taupou, ceremonial virginity, which might be counterfeited with the blood of a chicken. Ridiculing this last claim, Derek Freeman, the book's chief critic, argues that its subjects were already acculturated by Christian missionaries and that presupposing a society untroubled by violence and jealousy led the author to ignore informants' evidence in favor of the cultural determinist theories of Franz Boas. FTP, name this book describing adolescence in a Pacific island society, the most famous work of Margaret Mead.
Elements of stress present in this work include the aumaga society, called "the strength of the village," and the subsequent title of matai.
Coming of Age in Samoa