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Dissertation / thesis | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Searching for health in a world of dis-ease: affliction management among rural Hausa of the Maradi Valley (Republic of Niger) |
Author: | Schmoll, Pamela Gail |
Year: | 1996 |
Pages: | 334 |
Language: | English |
City of publisher: | Ann Arbor, MI |
Publisher: | UMI |
Geographic term: | Niger |
Subjects: | African religions faith healing Hausa traditional medicine dissertations (form) |
Abstract: | Understanding the notion of 'lahiya' (health) is critical to an appreciation of Hausa culture, for it is a central organizing concept in Hausa thought. By isolating two themes - equilibrium and flow (exchange) - the author investigates the deep structure conceptual roots of the notion of 'lahiya' and shows the ways in which they help define health and illness, how they provide insight into other problems which Westerners would not at first glance consider 'medical', and how these conceptual strands have influenced and been influenced by historical experience (amongst others through an examination of healing in the context of the 'bori' cult of affliction and an analysis of the persistent belief in soul-eating). By grounding the investigation in a theoretical framework which sees culture as dynamic and interactive, she also addresses the issue of social transformation. The author carried out fieldwork in the village of Djirataoua, in the Maradi area of Niger, in 1984-1985. |