Synopses & Reviews
In 1928 Margaret Mead published
Coming of Age in Samoa, a fascinating study of the lives of adolescent girls that transformed Mead herself into an academic celebrity. In 1983 anthropologist Derek Freeman published a scathing critique of Meadandrsquo;s Samoan research, badly damaging her reputation. Resonating beyond academic circles, his case against Mead tapped into important public concerns of the 1980s, including sexual permissiveness, cultural relativism, and the nature/nurture debate. In venues from the
New York Times to the TV show
Donahue, Freeman argued that Mead had been andldquo;hoaxedandrdquo; by Samoans whose innocent lies she took at face value.
and#160;and#160;and#160; In The Trashing of Margaret Mead, Paul Shankman explores the many dimensions of the Mead-Freeman controversy as it developed publicly and as it played out privately, including the personal relationships, professional rivalries, and larger-than-life personalities that drove it. Providing a critical perspective on Freemanandrsquo;s arguments, Shankman reviews key questions about Samoan sexuality, the alleged hoaxing of Mead, and the meaning of the controversy. Why were Freemanandrsquo;s arguments so readily accepted by pundits outside the field of anthropology? What did Samoans themselves think? Can Meadandrsquo;s reputation be salvaged from the quicksand of controversy? Written in an engaging, clear style and based on a careful review of the evidence, The Trashing of Margaret Mead illuminates questions of enduring significance to the academy and beyond.and#160;and#160;2010 Distinguished Lecturer in Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural Historyand#160;andldquo;The Trashing of Margaret Mead reminds readers of the pitfalls of academia. It urges scholars to avoid personal attacks and to engage in healthy debate. The book redeems Mead while also redeeming the field of anthropology. By showing the uniqueness of the Mead-Freeman case, Shankman places his continued confidence in academia, scholars, and the field of anthropology.andrdquo;andmdash;H-Net Reviews
Review
andldquo;A compelling read about the controversy. Shankman, whose anthropological engagement with Samoa covers forty years and who met both Freeman and Mead, presents measured accounts of their careers, reasons for studying Samoa, and personal lives.andrdquo;andmdash;Roger Sanjek, author of The Future of Us All: Race and Neighborhood Politics in New York City
Review
andquot;[A] balanced portrait of this complex and often vitriolic anthropological controversy.Well researched and thoroughly documented, this should be of interest both to anthropologists and to educated lay readers with interests in Mead and her legacy.andquot;andmdash;Library Journal
Review
andldquo;[Shankman] convincingly rebuts Freemanandrsquo;s certitude that Mead suffered a andlsquo;fateful hoaxingandrsquo; in Samoa that changed the course of anthropology and, by implication, society itself.andrdquo;andmdash;Colorado Arts and Sciences
Review
“A book that will continue to be consulted for a very long time and will be of as much interest to medical historians as to scholars of Middle English.”—Peter Murray Jones, Bulletin of the History of Medicine
Review
andldquo;Another fine contribution to the diverse histories of our field. Like all volumes in the series,
Anthropologists and Their Traditions across National Borders challenges us to think beyond standard renditions of an anthropology that presumably andlsquo;stays putandrsquo; in space and time. Exploring the work of both well-known and largely forgotten anthropologists, this volume compels us to travel into theoretical and methodological borderlands where traditions like functionalism, structuralism, and applied anthropology may not be exactly what they seem.andrdquo;andmdash;Luke Eric Lassiter, author of
The Chicago Guide to Collaborative Ethnographyand#160;
Review
"Oskison cuts an unorthodox and compelling figure in this remarkable anthology."and#8212;Publishers Weekly
Review
andldquo;A superbly crafted and highly readable book that essentially lays the Mead-Freeman controversy to rest.andrdquo;andmdash;James Candocirc;tandeacute;, author of Adolescent Storm and Stress: An Evaluation of the Mead-Freeman Controversy
Review
andldquo;There is simply no other book like it. What Shankman does, very successfully, is analyze the nature of the controversy in meticulous detail, examine the main participants in the debate, and evaluate the quality of the arguments on both sides. Valuable to anthropologists and other academics, the book is also eminently accessible to any interested layperson.andrdquo;andmdash;Nancy McDowell, author of The Mundugumor: From the Field Notes of Margaret Mead and Reo Fortune
Review
andquot;A fine, funny, discriminating, and at times quite disturbing book. . . . Shankman shows with great gusto and clarity that U.S. media and many academics were predisposed to accept Freeman's claims, however fraudulent. . . . Should be used in college courses ranging from media studies to cultural anthropology to women's studies to Peoples and Cultures of the Pacific. Graduate-level seminars could be wrapped around the many significant issues raised here. Shankman's bulldog-like dedication for many years is as laudable as his prose style is engaging.andquot;andmdash;James Hamar, The Feminist Review
Review
andldquo;Highly recommended.andrdquo;andmdash;Choice
Review
andldquo;Shankmanandrsquo;s insights and conclusions are real contributions that will no doubt energise future research. . . . It is the best coverage of the andlsquo;Mead thingandrsquo; that we have.andrdquo;andmdash;Peter Hempenstall, The Journal of Pacific History
Review
andquot;For readers interested in regional histories and autobiographical sketches of life in Indian Territory, Oskisonand#39;s writing doesnand#39;t disappoint.andquot;andmdash;Ellen Cushman, Wicazo SA
Review
andquot;Readers of this anthology will appreciate Larrandeacute;and#39;s thoroughly written introduction and his masterful selection of John Milton Oskisonand#39;s writings with their subtle insights into the rich, multicultural milieu that was Indian Territory, and into the complexity of American Indian affairs in the early twentieth century.andquot;andmdash;James Pate, Chronicles of Oklahoma
Synopsis
Originally composed in Latin by Gilbertus Anglicus (Gilbert the Englishman), his Compendium of Medicine was a primary text of the medical revolution in thirteenth-century Europe. Composed mainly of medicinal recipes, it offered advice on diagnosis, medicinal preparation, and prognosis. In the fifteenth-century it was translated into Middle English to accommodate a widening audience for learning and medical “secrets.”
Faye Marie Getz provides a critical edition of the Middle English text, with an extensive introduction to the learned, practical, and social components of medieval medicine and a summary of the text in modern English. Getz also draws on both the Latin and Middle English texts to create an extensive glossary of little-known Middle English pharmaceutical and medical vocabulary.
Synopsis
Volume 8 of the Histories of Anthropology Annual series, the premier series published in the history of the discipline, explores national anthropological traditions in Britain, the United States, and Europe and follows them into postnational contexts. Contributors reassess the major theorists in twentieth-century anthropology, including the work of luminaries such as Franz Boas, Claude Land#233;vi-Strauss, Bronisand#322;aw Malinowski, A. R. Radcliffe-Brown, and Marshall Sahlins, as well as lesser-known but important anthropological work by Berthold Laufer, A. M. Hocart, Kenelm O. L. Burridge, and Robin Ridington, among others.
These essays examine myriad themes such as the pedagogical context of the anthropologist as a teller of stories about indigenous storytellers; the colonial context of British anthropological theory and its projects outside the nation-state; the legacies of Claude Land#233;vi-Straussand#8217;s structuralism regarding culture- specific patterns; cognitive universals reflected in empirical examples of kinship, myth, language, classificatory systems, and supposed universal mental structures; and the career of Marshall Sahlins and his trajectory from neo-evolutionism and structuralism toward an epistemological skepticism of cross- cultural miscommunication.
Synopsis
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Indian Territory, which would eventually become the state of Oklahoma, was a multicultural space in which various Native tribes, European Americans, and African Americans were equally engaged in struggles to carve out meaningful lives in a harsh landscape. John Milton Oskison, born in the territory to a Cherokee mother and an immigrant English father, was brought up engaging in his Cherokee heritage, including its oral traditions, and appreciating the utilitarian value of an American education.
Oskison left Indian Territory to attend college and went on to have a long career in New York City journalism, working for the New York Evening Post and Collierand#8217;s Magazine. He also wrote short stories and essays for newspapers and magazines, most of which were about contemporary life in Indian Territory and depicted a complex multicultural landscape of cowboys, farmers, outlaws, and families dealing with the consequences of multiple interacting cultures.
Though Oskison was a well-known and prolific Cherokee writer, journalist, and activist, few of his works are known today. This first comprehensive collection of Oskisonand#8217;s unpublished autobiography, short stories, autobiographical essays, and essays about life in Indian Territory at the turn of the twentieth century fills a significant void in the literature and thought of a critical time and place in the history of the United States.
About the Author
“A superbly crafted and highly readable book that essentially lays the Mead-Freeman controversy to rest.”—James Côté, author of
Adolescent Storm and Stress: An Evaluation of the Mead-Freeman Controversy “There is simply no other book like it. What Shankman does, very successfully, is analyze the nature of the controversy in meticulous detail, examine the main participants in the debate, and evaluate the quality of the arguments on both sides. Valuable to anthropologists and other academics, the book is also eminently accessible to any interested layperson.”—Nancy McDowell, author of
The Mundugumor: From the Field Notes of Margaret Mead and Reo Fortune“A compelling read about the controversy. Shankman, whose anthropological engagement with Samoa covers forty years and who met both Freeman and Mead, presents measured accounts of their careers, reasons for studying Samoa, and personal lives.”—Roger Sanjek, author of
The Future of Us All: Race and Neighborhood Politics in New York City"[A] balanced portrait of this complex and often vitriolic anthropological controversy.Well researched and thoroughly documented, this should be of interest both to anthropologists and to educated lay readers with interests in Mead and her legacy."—Library Journal
“[Shankman] convincingly rebuts Freeman’s certitude that Mead suffered a ‘fateful hoaxing’ in Samoa that changed the course of anthropology and, by implication, society itself.”—Colorado Arts and Sciences
"A fine, funny, discriminating, and at times quite disturbing book. . . . Shankman shows with great gusto and clarity that U.S. media and many academics were predisposed to accept Freeman's claims, however fraudulent. . . . Should be used in college courses ranging from media studies to cultural anthropology to women's studies to Peoples and Cultures of the Pacific. Graduate-level seminars could be wrapped around the many significant issues raised here. Shankman's bulldog-like dedication for many years is as laudable as his prose style is engaging."—James Hamar, The Feminist Review
“Highly recommended.”—Choice
“Shankman’s insights and conclusions are real contributions that will no doubt energise future research. . . . It is the best coverage of the ‘Mead thing’ that we have.”—Peter Hempenstall, The Journal of Pacific History
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
I. Historical Background
A. Theoretical Justifications for Pharmaceutical Practices
B. Pharmacy, Medicine, and Commerce
II. The Practice of Medicine in the Middle English Gilbertus Anglicus
A. Anatomy
B. Physiology
C. Diagnosis
D. Therapeutics
E. Preparation of Medicines
III. The Middle English Gilbertus Anglicus and Its Relationship to Middle English Recipe Collections
IV. The Middle English Gilbertus Anglicus as a Translation
A. The Mechanics of Translation: A Comparison of the Middle English and Latin Texts
B. Neologism in the Middle English Gilbertus Anglicus
C. The Lexicon of the Middle English Gilbertus Anglicus
D. Modification of the Middle English Gilbertus Anglicus by the Copyist of Wellcome MS 537: The Removal of References to Diseases of Women and Children
V. Gilbertus Anglicus and the Latin Text
A. The Writings of Gilbertus Anglicus
B. Gilbertus Anglicus and His Reputation
VI. Description of the Manuscript
A. Binding
B. Physical Description
C. Contents of the Manuscript
D. Watermarks
E. Dating and Script
F. Provenance
G. Scribal Correction and Glossing
H. Dialect and Orthographical Peculiarities
VII. Editing the Manuscript
A. Editorial Procedures
B. Transcription Procedures
VIII. The Middle English Gilbertus Anglicus as Part of a Compendium
A. MSS Containing the Middle English Gilbertus Anglicus with the Incipit A mon pat woll help men in her sykeness
B. MSS Containing the Middle English Gilbertus Anglicus with the Incipit Scotomy is such
IX. Conclusion
The Middle English Gilbertus Anglicus from Wellcome MS 537
Chapter I: The Head
1. Headache
2. Other Sicknesses of the Head
3. Frenzy
4. Mania
5. Lethargy
6. Epilepsy
7. Apoplexy
Chapter II: The Eyes
1. Ache of the Eyes
2. Ophthalmia
3. Web, Cloth, and Nail
4. Red Eyes
5. Watery Eyes
6. Canker of the Eye
7. Injury to the Cornea
8. Feebleness of the Sight
Chapter III: The Eyelids and Lashes
Chapter IV: The Ears
1. Earache
2. Apostem of the Ear
3. Flowing of Blood at the Ears
4. Worms in the Ears
5. Ringing in the Ears
6. Deafness
Chapter V: The Nose
1. The Pose
2. Stinking of the Nostrils
3. Nosebleed
4. Gutta Rosacea
Chapter VI: The Mouth
1. Cracked Lips
2. Stinking of the Mouth
Chapter VII: The Teeth
1. Toothache
2. Worms in the Teeth
3. Rotting of the Teeth
Chapter VIII: The Tongue and Throat
1. The Tongue
2. Quinsy
Chapter IX: The Upper Chest
1. Hoarseness
2. Stricture of the Breast
3. The Cough
Chapter X: The Lungs
1. Apostem
2. Spitting of Blood
3. Spitting of Gleet
4. Phthisis
5. Difficulty in Breathing
Chapter XI: The Heart
1. The Cardiacle
2. Syncope
Chapter XII: The Stomach
1. Dlfficulty in Swallowing
2. Defective Appetite
3. Lack of Thirst
4. Excessive Thirst
5. Burping
6. Hiccups
7. Vomiting
8. To Stop Vomiting
9. The Mouth of the Stomach
10. Stomach Ache
11. Apostem of the Stomach
12. Colic of the Stomach
Chapter XIII: The Guts
1. Dysentery
2. Bloody Flux
3. Diarrhea
4. Lienteria
5. Colic
6. Worms in the Guts
7. Tenesmus
8. Prolapsed Rectum
Chapter XIV: The Liver
1. Distemper of the Liver
2. Stopping of the Liver
3. Apostem of the Liver
Chapter XV: The Spleen
Chapter XVI: The Kidneys
1. Ache of the Kidneys
2. Apostem of the Kidneys
3. Stones in the Kidneys and Bladder
Chapter XVII: The Bladder
1. Strangury
2. Pissing of Blood
3. Diabetes
4. Urinary Incontinence
5. The Siphac
Chapter XVIII: The Penis
1. Satyriasis
2. Gonorrhea
3. Pimples and Apostems
4. Swelling of the Scrotum
Chapter XIX: Hemorrhoids
Commentary
Glossary
Alphabetical List of Plants by Genus
Bibliography