1st Edition

Anthropological Approaches to the Study of Ethnomedicine

Edited By Mark Nichter Copyright 1992

    First Published in 1992.  The reader of this volume will see how a decade of new work has remade ethnomedicine into one of the livelier and more promising domains of anthropology. Nicthter's encompassing redefinition of the relationship of ethnomedicine to medical anthropology and his critical comments that introduce each chapter are bound to provoke discussion and response over the years to come. - Arthur Kleinman, MD Harvard Medical School.

    An Ayurvedic Theory of Cancer
    An Epidemiological Description of a Folk Illness: A Study of Empacho in Guatemala
    Discourse, DaƱo and Healing in North Coastal Peru
    Guardian Angels and Dirty Spirits: The Moral Basis of Healing Power in Rural Haiti
    Deciding How to Decide: Posession-Mediumship in Jalari Divination
    "Unclean Deeds": Menstrual Taboos and Binding "Ties" in Rural Jamaica
    The Harp That Plays by Itself
    The Production of Self and Body in Sherpa-Tibetan Society
    Malay Medicine, Malay Person
    Ethnomedicine: Diverse Trends, Common Linkages

    Biography

    Mark Nichter

    "A stimulating, timely, and insightful collection of essays in which skillful use of diverse research strategies contribute ot a reappraisal and revitalization of the study of ethnomedicine. The fluid, contested nature of medical knowledge is meticulously documented, revealing a close articulation between individual suffering and the social and political order-this is medical anthropology at its best-a major contribution to the field." -- Margaret Lock of McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
    "The reader of this volume will see how a decade of new work has remade ethnomedicine into one of the livlier and more promising domains of anthorpology. Niochter and his collaborators are to be congratulated for a salient contribution. Nichter's own encompassing redefinition of the relationship of ethnomedicine to medical anthropology and his critical comments that introduce each of the chapters on the various subdomains of ethnomedicine are bound to provode discussion and response over the years to come. A useful and challenging achievement." -- Arthur Kleinman, MD of Harvard Medical School