Coming of Age In Samoa - Full Blog

Reference

Coming of Age In Samoa

Margaret Mead

Harper Perennial 1928 1971

Summary

This book is a classic ethnography focused on life in the Samoan culture with emphasis on the Samoan girl. The author's primary objective was to compare her own culture to Samoan culture and learn from them. The book is structured into various segments about certain aspects of Samoan culture along with some discussion of application to the author's own culture.

The author rooted herself into the culture as much as possible, making friends with adolescent girls in order to gain insight into their lives. Through this process she creates several tables and collections of raw data, which is presented in the back of the book.

Overall, focus is given to the way the girl experiences Samoa. From her birth until her death all aspects of her life are at least partially covered within this text. The dynamics between males and females is also discussed throughout the book, with the males often having the better end of the deal. Some unique aspects of Samoan culture, like dancing, are discussed in detail with interesting accounts given. Focus continues to drift back to the Samoan girl's progress through life and the book ends with her entering maturity and still working hard.

The book gives attention to what we can learn from the Samoan culture. Finally a brief description of other culture's influence on the Samoans is given.

Discussion

This is the first ethnography I've ever read and I found it to be really interesting. Though the content wasn't my first choice, the idea and process of ethnography was one of the coolest things I've learned in CHI. I can see the merit in studying these other cultures and the importance it can play in our lives. Because I read this book I am more likely to be open to reading other ethnographys, which I feel will help me better understand new aspects of the world. As for it's place in Computer Science: I'd call it a pivotal part of system design. Without knowing the space designers will miss something. Experience provides so much insight, even if a full ethnography isn't possible, we should always try to spend as much time in our users' place as we can.