Synopses & Reviews
This book is a study of a serious illness in a New Guinea village. It records the failure of local treatments and Western medicine, and of a communal ritual to bring a spirit to heal a man; it also shows how cultural beliefs and assumptions may influence events. The author, an anthropologist and medical doctor, focuses on how those closely involved maintained their hope and beliefs, and how they faced the realization of failure.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [252]-253) and index.
Table of Contents
The ethnography of an illness
Arrival
The people in a hamlet: Watalu
Paths and gardens
A question of marriage and a fall
The hunting in July and another fall
At the health centre
The perception of his illness
The opening of Malyi
Contrasts of pace: acute and chronic
Imagery without influence
Failure yet belief
Losing hope
The death of Dauwaras
The period of mourning
Aftermath