Margaret Mead served as Curator of Ethnology at the American Museum of Natural History from 1925 to 1969. She began her career with a study of youth and adolescence in Samoan society, published as Coming of Age in Samoa (1928). She published prolifically, becoming a seminal figure in anthropology, and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1979.

Preface

Introduction

PART I: INTRODUCTION

The Study of Culture at a Distance
Margaret Mead

Chapter 1. The Purpose and Scope of This Manual
Chapter 2. The Needed Skills and Their Place in Cultural Analysis

Chapter 3. Theory and Practice

• Theory and Methods Derived from Anthropology
• Theory and Methods Derived from Other Disciplines

Chapter 4. Anthropological Models for the Study of Culture at a Distance

• The Single Informant
• The Study of Living Communities

PART II: NATIONAL CHARACTER

National Character: Theory and Practice
Geoffrey Gorer

PART III: GROUP RESEARCH

A: The Organization of Group Research
Margaret Mead

B: Five Illustrations of Groups at Work

Introduction
Rhoda Métraux

Chapter 1. Formulation of a Working Hypothesis: French Dyadic Relationships
Chapter 2. Formulation of a Working Hypothesis: The Swaddling Hypothesis

Chapter 3. Intragroup Interviewing: On thc Definition of Terms

• The Chinese First Teacher
• Sincerity

Chapter 4. Relations between Men and Women: Has the Woman a Soul?

• The Position of the Woman
• Woman's Position Redefined

Chapter 5. Themes in Italian Culture: A First Discussion

PART IV: WORK WITH INFORMANTS

A: Informants in Group Research
Rhoda Métraux

B: Three Illustrations of Written Work by Informants

I. Polish Personality

• Does Responsibility Mean Command?
• Attitudes toward Various Parts of the Body
• When Is a Pole Allowed to Be Soft?

II. My Inner Self

III. Russian Sensory Images

• On the Sense of Touch
• On the Sense of Smell
• On the Sense of Hearing

C: Ten Illustrations of Interviews with Informants

I: Interview with a Syrian Woman: Life History
II: Interview with a Syrian Man: Life History
III: Interview with a Polish Peasant Woman: Parents and Children
IV: Interview with a French Couple: Dyadic Relations in the Foyer
V: nterview with a Young Frenchman: Friendship
VI: Interview with a Chinese Scholar: Friendship
VII: Interview with Two Jewish Men: Sheyneh and Prosteh Yiden
VIII: Interview with Two Jewish Women: Sheyneh and Prosteh Yiden
IX: Interview with a Russian Actor: Interpretation of Roles
X: Interview with Four Russians: Images of Hate, Guilt, and Love

PART V: WRITTEN AND ORAL LITERATURE

Introduction
Rhoda Métraux

Chapter 1. Relations between Men and Women in Chinese Stories
Virginia Heyer

Chapter 2. The Image of the Leader in Soviet "Post-October Folklore
Nelly Schargo Hoyt

Chapter 3. A Russian Double Image Cluster: "Not-So: So"

• The "Not-So: So" Images in Russian Folklore
  Nelly Schargo Hoyt
• Rumor Cluster and Image Cluster: Detail from Group Discussion
• Russian "Visual" Thinking
  Leopold H. Haimson

Chapter 4. Trends in Affectlessness
Nathan Leites

PART VI: FILM ANALYSIS

A: Movie Analysis in the Study of Culture
Martha Wolfenstein

B: Five Illustrations of Film Analysis

Introduction
Rhoda Métraux

I: Notes on an Italian Film, The Tragic Hunt
Martha Wolfenstein

II: Notes on Two French Films

• The Father Figure in Panique
  Jane Belo
• Notes on La Belle et La Bête
  Geoffrey Gorer

III: An Analysis of Seven Cantonese Films
John Hast Weakland

IV: An Analysis of the Soviet Film The Young Guard

• Plot Summary
  Margaret Mead
• Comparison of the Film and the Novel
  Vera Schwarz (Alexandrova)

V: An Analysis of the Nazi Film Hltlerjunge Quex
Gregory Bateson

PART VII: PROJECTIVE TESTS

A: The Use of Projective Tests in Group Research
Margaret Mead

B: Two Illustrations of the Use of Projective Tests with Chinese Subjects

• Visual Perception and Spatial Organization: A Study of Performance on the Horn-Hellersberg Test by Chinese Subjects
  Elisabeth F. Hellersberg
• Some Aspects of Personality of Chinese as Revealed by the Rorschach Test
  Theodora M. Abel and Francis L. K. Hsu

PART VIII: IMAGERY

Resonance in Imagery
Rhode Métraux

PART IX: END LINKAGE: AN ANALYTICAL APPROACH

A: History of the Approach
Margaret Mead

B: Formulation of End Linkage
Gregory Bateson

C: Four Applications of End Linkage Analysis

• Applications of End Linkage Formulations to Anglo-American
• Relations in World War II
  Margaret Mead
• Male Dominance in Thai Culture
  Ruth Benedict
• Non-Reciprocity among East European Jews
  Natalie F. Joffe
• A Note on the Spectator in French Culture
  Rhoda Métraux

PART X: APPLICATIONS OF STUDIES OF CULTURE AT A DISTANCE

A: Political Applications of Studies of Culture at a Distance
Margaret Mead

B: Seven Applications of Studies of Culture at a Distance

• Japanese Character Structure and Propaganda
  Geoffrey Gorer
• Some Problems of Cross-Cultural Communication between Britain and the United States: Based upon Lecturing in Britain and the United States during World War II
  Margaret Mead
• History as It Appears to Rumanians
  Ruth Benedict
• Courage: Cumulative Effects of Sacrifice
  Sula Benet
• Chinese Family Images in International Affairs
  John Hast Weakland
• The Soviet Style of Chess
  Leopold II. Haimson
• The Soviet Image of Corruption
  Martha Wolfenstein

APPENDIXES

Appendix A: Recommendations for the Organization of Group Research
Margaret Mead

Appendix B: A List of Participants in Columbia University Research in Contemporary Cultures and Successor Projects

Bibliography

Index