Ästhetiken des Heilens. Arbeit mit den Sinnen im therapeutischen Kontext - AGEM
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Arbeitsgemeinschaft Ethnologie und Medizin (AGEM) Zeitschrift für Medizinethnologie
Association for Anthropology and Medicine (AGEM) Journal of Medical Anthropology
VWB – Verlag für Wissenschaft und Bildung
42 (2019) 3+4
42 (2019) 3+4
42 (2019) 3+4
ISBN 978-3-86135-848-0
ISSN 0334-8622
Curare
Curare
Curare
Ästhetiken des Heilens. Arbeit mit den Sinnen
Ästhetiken des Heilens. Arbeit mit den
Ästhetiken des Heilens Aesthetics of Healing
im therapeutischen Kontext
Aesthetics of Healing. Working with the Senses
in Therapeutic Contexts
Sinnen im therapeutischen Kontext
Herausgegeben von
Aesthetics of Healing. Working with
edited by Helmar Kurz the Senses in Therapeutic Contexts
3 Editorial
5 Schwerpunkt Thematic Focus
9 Inga Scharf Eigen-Sinnig. With my own Senses
13 Helmar Kurz Sensory Approaches in Health, Care and Medical Anthropology.
Introduction to the Thematic Focus on the Aesthetics of Healing: Working with
the Senses in Therapeutic Contexts
27 Graham Harvey Animist Contributions to Rethinking Wellbeing and Healing. Keynote
35 Cathy Fournier & Robin Oakley Creating Space for the “Sacred” in Cancer Care. Integrating
Indigenous Medicines into Health Care
49 Andrew R. Hatala & James B. Waldram Maya Cosmovision. Exploring Formative
Processes of Q‘eqchi‘ Medical Aesthetics, Morality, and Healing Practice
65 Johanna Kühn Seeing Lights. Healing in a Meditation Class in Beirut
79 Tessa Bodynek Negotiating Self. Aesthetics of Mediumship and Embodied Healing in
Brazilian Umbanda
93 Sabrina Melo Del Sarto & Esther Jean Langdon Healing Efficacy and Subjectivity among
Long-Term Residents in a Spiritist Asylum
107 Shirley Chubb, Ann Moore, Neil Bryant & Kambiz Saber-Sheikh The Significant Walks
Project. Aesthetic Articulations of Walking, Data, and Place
121 Hannah Drayson To the Bitter End. Affect, Experience, and Chemical Ecology
131 Dirck Van Bekkum Being Moved Together During Co-Creating Transitional Spaces.
A Navigated Quest in the Borderlands of Pluralistic Healing and Therapeutic Contexts
145 Natalie Harriman Homeopathic Prescribing as an Apprehension of the Whole
157 Paul Dieppe The Need for Pluralism in Modern Healthcare. The Importance of
Placebo Effects, the Environment, and Art in Facilitating Healing
167 Anja Lüpken Aesthetic Embodied Imagination in the TamalpaLife/Art Process®
183 Svea Lindner Forschung mit den Sinnen. Phänomenologisches Vorgehen bei der
Erkundung des Vimbuza Heiltanzes in Malawi
195 Forum Forum
197 Aufgezeichnet und montiert von Ehler Voss Das Leben, die Toten, die Kunst. Zwei
Biographien zwischen Begeisterung und Psychiatrie, Deutschland und Italien
223 Zusammenfassungen Abstracts RésumésImpressum | Imprint
CURARE. ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR MEDIZINETHNOLOGIE 42 (2019) 3+4
Herausgegeben von der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Ethnologie und Medizin (AGEM)
ISSN 0344-8622 ISBN 978-3-86135-848-0
CURARE. JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 42 (2019) 1+2
Edited by the Association for Anthropology and Medicine (AGEM)
ISSN 0344-8622 ISBN 978-3-86135-848-0
Herausgeber im Auftrag der AGEM e. V. Layout und Typografie | Layout and Typography
Editor-in-Chief on behalf of AGEM e. V. Nicolai Schmitt, nicolai.schmitt@mailbox.org
Ehler Voss (V. i. S. d. P.), ehler.voss@uni-bremen.de
Umschlaggestaltung | Cover Design
www.agem.de, curare@agem.de
Troppo Design, www.troppodesign.de
Redaktion | Editorial Board
Schriften | Fonts
Janina Kehr (U Bern), Helmar Kurz (U Münster), Mirko Uhlig
Source Serif & Source Sans (Paul D. Hunt).
(U Mainz), Ehler Voss (U Bremen)
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Alle eingesandten Forschungsartikel werden nach einer posi-
Redaktion Curare, Postfach 10 04 04 , D-57004 Siegen
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(Budapest), Sushrut Jadhav (UC London), Michi Knecht (U Bemen), research manuscripts will be reviewed in a double-blind proce-
Ruth Kutalek (MU Wien), Danuta Penkala-Gawęcka (U Poznań), dure. Each peer-reviewed article contains information at the end
Giovanni Pizza (U Perugia), Bernd Rieken (SFU Wien), William about the date of receipt and acceptance of the manuscript.
Sax (U Heidelberg), Hannes Stubbe (U Köln)
Umschlagbild | Cover Picture
Ehrenbeirat | Honorary Board Fotografische Vorlage des Gemäldes „Hoffnung“ (2009; Acryl
Hans-Jochen Diesfeld, Horst H. Figge, Dieter H. Frießem, Wolf- auf Leinwand, 100 x 70cm) der Berliner Anthropologin und
gang G. Jilek Künstlerin Inga Scharf da Silva innerhalb ihres Zyklus „Die
Suche“ (2009–2010; siehe Prolog in dieser Ausgabe).
Begründet von | Founding Editors
Photographic template for the painting “Hope” (2009; acrylic
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on canvas, 100 x 70cm) of Berlin’s anthropologist and artist Inga
Ekkehard Schröder (Editor of Curare 2001–2017)
Scharf da Silva as part of her cycle “The Search” (2009–2010; see
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Copyright
© 2021 Arbeitsgemeinschaft Ethnologie und Medizin (AGEM)Zeitschrift für Medizinethnologie
Journal of Medical Anthropology
hg. von der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Ethnologie und Medizin (AGEM)
ed. by the Association for Anthropology and Medicine (AGEM)
VOL. 42 (2019) 3+4
Editorial Editorial 3
Editorial
Thematic Focus Aesthetics of Healing
Schwerpunkt Working with the Senses in Therapeutic Contexts
edited by Helmar Kurz
Prologue Eigen-Sinnig With my own Senses | Prologue 7
Prolog Inga Scharf da Silva
Introduction Sensory Approaches in Health, Care and Medical 13
Einleitung Anthropology | Introduction to the Thematic Focus
on the Aesthetics of Healing: Working with the Senses
in Therapeutic Contexts
Helmar Kurz
Keynote Animist Contributions to Rethinking Wellbeing 27
Keynote and Healing | Keynote
Graham Harvey
Articles Creating Space for the “Sacred” in Cancer 35
Artikel Care | Integrating Indigenous Medicines into Health
Care
Cathy Fournier & Robin Oakley
Maya Cosmovision | Exploring Formative Processes 49
of Q‘eqchi‘ Medical Aesthetics, Morality, and Healing
Practice
Andrew R. Hatala & James B. Waldram
Seeing Lights | Healing in a Meditation Class in 65
Beirut
Johanna Kühn
Negotiating Self | Aesthetics of Mediumship and 79
Embodied Healing in Brazilian Umbanda
Tessa BodynekHealing Efficacy and Subjectivity among Long- 93
Term Residents in a Spiritist Asylum
Sabrina Melo Del Sarto & Esther Jean Langdon
The Significant Walks Project | Aesthetic Articulati- 107
ons of Walking, Data, and Place
Shirley Chubb, Ann Moore, Neil Bryant & Kambiz
Saber-Sheikh
To the Bitter End | Affect, Experience, and Chemical 121
Ecology
Hannah Drayson
Essays Being Moved Together During Co-Creating Transi- 131
Essays tional Spaces | A Navigated Quest in the Borderlands
of Pluralistic Healing and Therapeutic Contexts
Dirck van Bekkum
Homeopathic Prescribing as an Apprehension of 145
the Whole
Natalie Harriman
The Need for Pluralism in Modern Healthcare | 157
The Importance of Placebo Effects, the Environment,
and Art in Facilitating Healing
Paul Dieppe
Aesthetic Embodied Imagination in the Tamalpa 167
Life/Art Process®
Anja Lüpken
Forschung mit den Sinnen | Phänomenologisches 183
Vorgehen bei der Erkundung des Vimbuza Heiltanzes
in Malawi
Svea Lindner
Forum Das Leben, die Toten, die Kunst | Zwei Biographien 197
Forum zwischen Begeisterung und Psychiatrie, Deutschland
und Italien
Aufgezeichnet und montiert von Ehler Voss
Zusammenfassungen Zusammenfassungen der Beiträge 223
Abstracts Article abstracts 226
Résumés Résumés des articles 230
Aims & Scope 236Editorial
This issue presents the results of the 32nd confe- plements the thematic focus by focusing on the
rence of the Association for Anthropology and Me- fuzziness of the boundaries between art, religion,
dicine (AGEM), which took place from May 24 to and medicine as a classical topic of medical an-
26, 2019 at the University of Münster under the tit- thropology. Through biographical interviews, the
le “Aesthetics of Healing: Working with the Senses contribution reflects on the lives of Horst and Do-
in Therapeutic Contexts.” The thematic focus was nata, a German-Italian couple from Cologne, who
on the sensory formation and perception of the- were thrown off track by the incursion of the invi-
rapeutic measures as well as the aesthetic com- sible and intangible when Donata began painting
munication of these experiences as an interaction pictures at the behest of the dead. The text offers
of all actors involved in the healing process. The insight into the resulting struggle for sovereign-
conference was international, interdisciplinary, ty through an ongoing process of individual and
and intersectoral, which the contributions to this social negotiation of normality in different cultu-
issue reflect with their different perspectives, ap- res. The paper highlights the precarious status of
proaches, and topics. We would like to take this the boundaries between illness and mediumism,
opportunity to thank the Department of Social worldview and healing, and suggests reading the
Anthropology and the International Office of the text as an art-historical commentary on the re-
University of Münster for their cooperation and printed images.
support.
The contribution in the forum of this issue was Janina Kehr, Helmar Kurz, Mirko Uhlig,
written independently of the conference, but sup- Ehler Voss
Curare 42 (2019) 3+4: 1 | VWB | © Arbeitsgemeinschaft Ethnologie und medizinSensory Approaches in Health, Care and Medical Anthropology
Introduction to the Thematic Focus on the Aesthetics of Healing: Working with the
Senses in Therapeutic Contexts
HELMAR KURZ
“The contemporary practice of health, despite all ing might implicate on a theoretical and practi-
scientific process, presents itself as a fragment- cal level.
ed overspecialization. Besides that, it often lacks
the individual support regarding resources of self-
knowledge, wisdom, and (self-)love, which would The Context
be the basis of health-seeking behavior in the
Medical anthropologists increasingly explore the
sense of permanent efficacy.” (Moreira 2013: 23,
social production of therapeutic spaces (cf. Dil-
English translation by Helmar Kurz)
ger 2013; Zanini et al. 2013; Krause et al. 2014)
Brazilian Spiritist medical doctor Moreira ad- and related impacts of sensory experience in ther-
dresses contested realms of healing at the inter- apeutic settings (cf. Nichter 2008). Similarly, re-
section of scientific and spiritual knowledge, pos- ligious scientists have addressed religious experi-
tulating holistic approaches towards health, care, ence as aesthetic engagement (cf. Münster 2001;
and well-being. He also acknowledges the posi- Schmidt 2016a; Wilke & Traut 2015). From this
tionality of “patients” as humans being diagnosed perspective, we continue to explore how healing
according to biomedical and/or psychiatric cate- addresses illness and affliction by “working with
gories and exposed to treatment rather than active- the senses” and creates diversified spaces of care. Re-
ly participating in their own healing experience. lated processes of hybridization and diversification
For over a decade, I have explored and investigat- have been addressed with practice-oriented meth-
ed related Brazilian Spiritist practices in (mental) ods in reference to Latour’s (2010) Science and
health/care, exploring practices of healing coopera- Technology Studies, focusing on how health-relat-
tion, translocal relations, and, moreover, performa- ed knowledge is produced in multiple networked
tive, sensory, and aesthetic aspects of health and practices instead of assuming that any given (so-
healing (cf. Kurz 2015, 2017, 2018a/b, 2019a). It has cio-cultural) knowledge would automatically re-
never been my aim to propagate or evaluate “al- sult in systemically based defined interventions
ternative” approaches to healing in terms of their (cf. Mol 2003, 2008). Therapy, therefore, is under-
efficacy but, instead, to facilitate comprehension, stood in terms of mutually linked interactions (cf.
communication, and appreciation towards alter- Krause et al. 2012: 20).
nate explanatory models as aligned to certain so- Such a perspective considers bodily experi-
cio-cultural frames, dynamics, and negotiations. ence and practice as crucial factors of health and
However, I am also interested in efficacy as related healing, and accordingly, fancies a debate on em-
to experience. I therefore, as a medical anthropolo- bodiment and habitus as conceptional tools (cf.
gist, deem it crucial to integrate conceptual mod- Bourdieu 1991; Csordas 1993), giving also space
els of performance, embodiment, aesthetics, and sen- to divergent and contested cosmologies on body,
sory anthropology into my investigation of healing mind, and spirit/soul as opposed or complemen-
practices. Accordingly, with this Curare special is- tary to the Cartesian dichotomy of mind and body
sue, I seek exchange of and contest with authors and related explanatory models and diagnostic
affiliated with different scientific disciplines and systems (cf. Coleman & White 2010; Csordas
therapeutic approaches to explore what a concep- 1990, 1999, 2002; Fedele & Blanes 2011; Kirmay-
tualization and discussion of the aesthetics of heal- er 2003; Voss 2011; Naraindas et al. 2014). The
tripartite model of a mindful body (cf. Scheper-
Curare 42 (2019) 3+4: 13–26 | VWB | © Arbeitsgemeinschaft Ethnologie und medizin (AGEM)14 Helmar Kurz
Hughes & Lock 1987) as grounded in phenomeno- structuring in certain environments and spaces.
logical body experience, social body interpretation, Howes (2005: 7) refers to spatial factors of senso-
and political body control here serves as another ry experience and/or embodied knowledge as em-
influential analytical tool by framing subjective placement (cf. Ingold 2000; Pink 2009), that is, a
experience, intersubjective practice, and exter- complex network of sensory experiences and in-
nal factors such as social control, body politics, teractions, or, in other words, specific body-mind-
or structural violence. environments.
Theoretical concepts of embodiment and the The intersection of “religion” and “medicine”
mindful body extrapolate the dichotomy of body (cf. Basu et al. 2017) is of special interest here, too.
and mind within “Western” cosmologies and sci- Religious-spiritual approaches toward health im-
entific approaches as grounded in a fundamental plicate continuous and long-term processes of
distinction between rationality and emotion, or, learning and cultivating (self)perception in terms
in other words, cognitive and sensory perception. of shifting attention to sensory-bodily experiences
Current research in the cultural and social sci- and expressions (cf. Espirito-Santo 2015; Selig-
ences transcend this dichotomy with an extended man 2014). Related explanatory models, idioms of
focus on social and cultural foundations of aes- distress, and coping strategies are not only negoti-
thetics and sensory experience. Accordingly, an ated on a cognitive-rational level but also in corpo-
increasingly influential anthropology of the senses real-sensory terms (cf. Schmidt 2016).
produces innovative approaches, concepts, and Having these aspects in mind, I intend to (re-)
tools: they imply the idea of the human sensori- introduce the concept of aesthetics of healing as a
um as socially and culturally produced and con- methodological tool to be implemented in the in-
structed (cf. Classen 2005; Hsu 2008). Other ap- vestigation of body-mind-environments in ther-
proaches focus on the medial quality of the senses apeutic spaces. To my knowledge, Kapferer
(cf. Pink 2009; Stoller 1989). Howes (2005), for (1983) first came up with this term when he ex-
example, regards the senses as media that pro- tended Turner’s (1968) performative model on
duce and represent socio-cultural meaning to, the importance of aesthetics within healing rit-
e.g., medical or spiritual phenomena. The focus uals, perceiving the performative power of sym-
is on social implications and intersubjective inter- bols offside structural frames and shaping the ex-
action as foundations of sensuality and sociality in perience of people involved. Performance studies
so far as social experience is construed by sensory stress the idea of symbolic conflict management
perception and attachment (cf. Chau 2008; Hsu where social relations are (re-)established, and
2012; Vannini et al. 2012). Nichter (2008), in a interpret healing rituals as transformative acts
further step, explores “the senses in medical an- adjusting experience, emotion, identity, mean-
thropology” in terms of transformative experienc- ing and practice. Participants develop agency to
es of healing and health-seeking behavior in diver- overcome psycho-social problems and/or to (re-)
sified therapeutic markets (cf. Desjarlais 1992; shape social structures (cf. Turner 1968: 20; Kap-
Halliburton 2009), and addresses sensory mo- ferer 1983: 175; Laderman & Roseman 1996;
dalities and their perception (cf. Hinton & Hin- Sax 2004: 302). Roseman (1988) stresses the use
ton 2002). This also includes questioning clinical of patterned sounds, movements, colors, shapes,
and cosmological constructions of normal and an- and odors as therapeutic techniques and has criti-
ormal sensory experience (cf. McCarthy-Jones cized that medical anthropology remains curious-
2012; Luhrmann 2012). ly inattentive to the “aesthetics of healing rituals”
Place-Making is another aspect in terms of the which would actually bridge the conceptual gap
production of therapeutic environments. Spaces between “structural” and “experiential” approach-
shape bodies and bodies create spaces by move- es in anthropology.
ment, experience, and interaction (cf. Casey This special issue of Curare takes up the thread
2001). Rodaway (1994) develops the concept of again by integrating some new perspectives and
sensuous geographies as an integrative perspec- insights. Sayers (2004) introduces Visual Arts as
tive on physical, socio-cultural, and aesthetic di- helpful in therapy by establishing connections
mensions of human experience and its framing/ between “inner and outer experience,” which
Curare 42 (2019) 3+4
Sensory Approaches in Health, Care and Medical Anthropology 15
she deems crucial for psychotherapy. Arantes ing who addresses which senses in which way, and
and Rieger (2014) relate to “sound experience” how healing spaces and experiences are aestheti-
as socio-cultural practice which would transform cally and sensually patterned. I also suggest taking
human perception and actively used in terms of into consideration alleged “deviant” perceptional
creating “soundscapes” as “techniques of per- formations as e.g., mediumship and related thera-
ception” could help individuals to (re-)connect to py models which often do not aim at the extinction
themselves and others.1 In this regard, practices of of perturbing perceptions, but at their transfor-
mindfulness and related techniques of interoception mation in terms of an adjustment of “inner” and
have been a widely discussed phenomenon, main- “outer” sensory stimuli (cf. Howes 2006). This
ly among psychotherapists (cf. Kabat-Zinn 2003; approach defines “the senses” as resources to re-
Bohus & Huppertz 2006; Kirmayer 2015). Neuro- ceive, process, and react to information from the
scientists developed a certain interest in religious outside world and the inner organism, both be-
practices as technologies of self-transformation, ing central to perception and interaction. A major
-regulation, and social interaction which would insight has been that certain sensory experienc-
resonate with certain brain activities (cf. McNa- es might be interpreted and evaluated different-
mara 2009), thus postulating a “neurobiology of ly among distinct cultures (cf. Beer 2000; Howes
religious experience” (D’Aquili & Newberg 1999) 2005; Hsu 2008; Pink 2009), whereby discussion
which addresses (healing) rituals as “working with on the predominant effects of collective cultural
the senses.” Accordingly, Cave and Norris (2012) patterns or individual experience has remained
investigate how in religious settings “synchro- unclear.
nized ritual behavior” shapes bodily awareness The negotiation of different bodies of knowl-
and perception by repeated postures and related edges and their implementation into practice, as
somatic modes of attention (cf. Csordas 1993). well as related practices of contest have inspired
They observe that certain body techniques shape me to organize a conference on the “Aesthetics
sensory perception and may address spiritual im- of Healing” that would likewise address differ-
balances as gateways to work on the “self.” ent concepts and models but, moreover, create a
These interdisciplinary approaches also affect space of communication among researchers and
the contemporary discipline of medical anthro- practitioners from various disciplines to develop
pology by shifting the focus from political frame new ideas of how to approach affliction in a way
and social context back to individual experience. that acknowledges and supports patients’ resourc-
By taking up on the aforementioned performa- es, agencies, wishes, and aims.
tive approach toward spiritual healing practices,
Dox (2016: xx), declares that social dynamics and
The Call
cultural contexts are important for their compre-
hension, but that we must also explore process- On behalf of the Association for Anthropology and
es within “selves,” their feelings, experiences and Medicine (“Arbeitsgemeinschaft Ethnologie und
needs. Healing practices are not mere represen- Medizin,” AGEM)2 and in cooperation with the
tations of social frames, patterns, and moralities, Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology
but are to be taken seriously by the participants’ at the University of Muenster/Germany,3 we devel-
own terms and sensed experiences. Dox does not oped a CfP for AGEM’s 32nd annual conference to
take spirituality (e.g., in dance therapy, yoga, or take place in Muenster from 24–26 May 2019 with
neo-shamanism) as a symbolic representation its focus on The Aesthetics of Healing—Working
but as corporeal engagement with sensation, per- with the Senses in Therapeutic Contexts which here,
ception, rational thought, and the material world. I have slightly adapted due to ongoing dynamics
She therefore tends to ask what kind of (internal) in the field:
sense of self is cultivated in spiritual practices The concept of aesthetics covers very distinct
and argues for research strategies to turn to the aspects and meanings. In public discourse, it re-
body as a main source of knowledge. According- lates to ways of human expression including the
ly, Nichter (2008: 163) postulates research strate- arts, theater, music, and dance and its appraisal
gies focusing modalities of healing practices, ask- through categories such as “beautiful” or “grace-
Curare 42 (2019) 3+416 Helmar Kurz
ful.” Taking into consideration the original mean- sory manipulation influences health-seeking be-
ing of the ancient Greek word aísthēsis, the concept havior, therapeutic decision-making, and the es-
relates to sensory perception as delimited from ra- tablishment of healing cooperation in the context
tional-cognitive processes. To discuss “Aesthetics of increasing medical diversity. In a conference in
of Healing” thus means to focus sensory aspects Berlin in September 2018, the CRC “Affective So-
of therapy and to integrate them into a theory of cieties4” introduced the theoretical approach of
the meaning and effectiveness of healing practic- “Affective Arrangements” in therapeutic environ-
es. During the performative turn of the social and ments, initiating an interdisciplinary discussion
cultural sciences in the 1980s, this idea mainly of sensory-emotional factors of (mental) health,
related to symbolic practices to ritually resolve well-being, and therapeutic potentials and def-
psycho-social conflicts. Since the 2000s, it also icits in the context of current cultural, social,
depicts an integration of medical and sensory an- (health-)political, and economic developments
thropology: the capacity of the human sensorium (cf. Kurz 2019b). In cooperation with the CRC
to perceive and to react to stimuli from the envi- “Media of Cooperation5” at the University in Sie-
ronment or the proper organism is central to per- gen/Germany, AGEM carried out a series of three
ception and interaction in the therapeutic context. interrelated conferences on “Healing Coopera-
Healing practices can address, intensify, or dimin- tions” (June 2017), “Preparing for Patients” (June
ish different sensory functions, and meaning and 2018), and “Preparing for Physicians” (June 2019).
assessment of the particular senses differ in dis- Further developing related approaches, our aim
tinct cultural and social frameworks. Research on is to now explore the mentioned aspects, ques-
the interrelation of culture and the sensorium has tions and problems with the focus on “Aesthetics
produced the insight that humans consist of more of Healing.” We thus invite you to participate in
than the five senses (seeing, hearing, smelling, our discussion on “working with the senses” in the
tasting, touching) reproduced in public discourse. context of health, illness, and healing. We want
Bodily sensations such as interoception, pain, em- to investigate how sensory modalities influence
pathy or mediumship thus constitute another vital therapy as a transformation of self, perception,
source for the comprehension of health, illness, and experience and how they are embedded in
and healing. The intersection of religious/spiritual social and hierarchical relations and political and
and therapeutic practices is of particular interest economic dynamics. Our broad spectrum will in-
here. Religious-spiritual healing practices require tegrate diverse approaches to sensory experience
the acquisition and cultivation of specific percep- in the context of health, illness, and healing. The
tional processes, including the shift of sensory at- conference will be inter- and transdisciplinary:
tention and bodily expression. Consequently, cop- cultural and social scientists, medical profession-
ing strategies and explanatory models of illness als, psychotherapists, physiotherapists, nurses,
often do not refer to cognitive/rational but to bodi- music and art therapists, practitioners of comple-
ly/sensory perceptional forms. Further, contem- mentary and alternative medicines, as well as pa-
porary popular healing and health practices like tients and relatives are welcome to contribute with
yoga, meditation, and mindfulness training focus their experience, expertise, and evaluation.
on multiple bodily sensations and are increasing- Questions of interest include, but are not lim-
ly integrated into the psychotherapeutic context. ited to: What is the importance of sensory percep-
This tendency also unfolds perspectives on mech- tion in different healing practices? To what extent
anisms of the institutionalization and commodifi- are sensuality and aesthetics relevant factors for
cation of these practices and related political and illness experience, health behavior, and therapy
economic dynamics. decision? How do different therapeutic practic-
With a few exceptions, the current interdisci- es address the particular senses? Which patterns
plinary discourse is reduced to the insight that cul- of (self-)perception are generated and cultivated?
ture, embodiment, and emotion are interrelated What is the importance of place, equipment, and
without really opening the ‘black box’ of bodily substances? Is there a difference between treat-
and sensory processes and dynamics. We thus ment at home and out- or inpatient treatment?
have little knowledge on how sensuality and sen- How do sensory aspects of therapy contribute to
Curare 42 (2019) 3+4
Sensory Approaches in Health, Care and Medical Anthropology 17
the diversity of the health sector? Which social, dance” in Malawi. With focus on music, Leonardo
political, and economic dynamics are involved? Menegola (see below) vividly illustrated sensory
What is the importance of “Aesthetics of Healing” experiences in contemporary music therapy in It-
for the integration, complementarity, or competi- aly, whereas Bernd Brabec de Mori, specialized
tion of different health and healing practices? on the intersection of “song” and “health” and/or
“wellbeing” in the Amazon (cf. 2015), contested
an alleged separation of “cognitive” and “senso-
The Conference
ry” perception, as well as their philosophical and
To our delight, we received a great deal of inter- moral implications. Reading between the lines,
national, interdisciplinary and intersectoral feed- this issue has also been addressed by Leonar-
back from anthropologists and religious scientists, do Menegola, who displayed examples of per-
artists and art scientists, health professionals and sons suffering from dementia recalling memo-
therapists, and media producers from Austria, ries through playing certain melodies. With focus
Brazil, Canada, Finland, Italy, Germany, Nether- on technology & movement, Felix Freigang ad-
lands, and the UK. It has been quite a task to con- dressed so-called “mood-trackers” as digital ap-
nect and integrate manifold approaches within a plications to control states of mental well-being,
broader negotiation, discussion and contest on whereas Shirley Chubb (this volume) intro-
how to “make sense” of the concept aesthetics of duced digitally supported research approaches
healing. Some speakers developed strategies how and results related to chronic pain, movement,
to interpret healing practices in sensory terms. and environment.
Others discussed possibilities of how to integrate As keynote-speaker at the end of the first day,
“aesthetics” into therapy, while others either de- Graham Harvey (this volume) introduced Indig-
constructed my approach towards the aesthetics enous, environmental, and spiritual aspects of health
of healing as primarily focusing sensory percep- and healing which would also inform discussions
tion or made use of it to criticize “traditional” bio- of the second conference day: Johanna Kühn
medicine and psychiatry. The conference became (this volume) explored “alternative healing experi-
a fairground of mind-blowing and body-spinning ences” in Lebanon, Tessa Bodynek (this volume)
attractions which altogether created a transitional in Brazil, and Andrew R. Hatala (this volume)
third space (cf. Bhabha 1994) of performing, ne- in Belize. Dirck Van Bekkum (this volume) then
gotiating, and transforming knowledge and ex- asked how we could translate experiences of In-
perience. A detailed report in German language digenous healing “there,” and their anthropologi-
has been published in the previous issue of Curare cal interpretation, into therapeutic models “here.”
(Nauber & Kurz 2019), and a few further reflec- Contributing to this question, Paul Dieppe
tions of participants (Paul Dieppe; Natalie Har- (this volume), Jaana Erkkilä-Hill (cf. 2017) and
riman; Leonardo Menegola) are displayed be- Tyyne C. Pollmann (cf. 2019) explored different
low. However, I will provide a brief overview to approaches of integrating art into therapy or ther-
illustrate the vividness and variety of the confer- apeutic spaces. Some of these environments (psy-
ence, mentioning also those contributors who, for chiatry & hospital) were further addressed at the
diverse reasons, do not appear as authors in this end of the second and the beginning of the third
volume as, on the other hand, also authors con- day by Sabrina Melo Del Sarto (this volume),
tributed here who did not make it for the confer- Jahangir Khan, and Sjaak van der Geest (cf.
ence. 2020). Katharina Sabernig7 then completed the
After an introduction by Helene Basu6 and contest on biomedical and psychiatric practice by
Helmar Kurz, Anja Lüpken (this volume) and introducing models of organs and afflicted body
Svea Lindner (this volume) opened the confer- parts she herself handknitted to have patients sen-
ence with their particular contributions on the sorily understand what is going on within their
realm of dance: Anja Lüpken discussed a prac- bodies. The last panel was dedicated to substanc-
tice of dance “therapy” in the Münster area, while es as shared between Hannah Drayson (this vol-
Svea Lindner introduced her project of visual an- ume) on the bitterness of remedies and Natalie
thropology in terms of filming practices of “trance- Harriman (this volume) on homeopathy. How-
Curare 42 (2019) 3+418 Helmar Kurz
ever, Hannah Drayson was not able to come, centered interaction, or the adoption of an analytical
and to her and my surprise, Natalie Harriman framework (a)critically based on any unquestioned
suddenly did not just become the last speaker of concept of “aesthetics.”
the conference, apart from my final wrap-up, but Johanna Kühn proposed a virtual journey through
moderated a final discussion which reflected all the ways in which “alternative healing practices in
the contested approaches, ideas, and perspectives Beirut, Lebanon” foster journeys of “sensual self-per-
in such a dedicated, engaging, and secure way, ception” that help people build narratives of self-rep-
that I just decided to let it go and not “insist” on resentation and autobiographical experiences. Letting
my role as a final discussant. I was actually very emerge such a construction apparently seems to be the
grateful, and it could be a first lesson to be learned very role of the “spiritual” healing practices depicted
from that conference that in a paradigm of the in the paper.
aesthetics of healing, we, as researchers and thera- Felix Freigang proposed a paper focusing on a mo-
pists, should not take ourselves too seriously but bile app for “assisted mood-tracking:” a stimulating
let it go, see what happens, and facilitate agency. topic, which opens further questions to the researcher,
To also share some reflections and comments of such as: is “mood” meant to be treated as an achieve-
other participants on the conference, the next sec- ment, or as a matter of self-management technique? Is
tion provides a summary of Natalie Harriman’s, emotion a product or a process in contemporary, post-
Paul Dieppe’s and Leonardo Menegola’s expe- industrial society?
riences and interests, before I will properly intro- Paul Dieppe brought from England a thorough res-
duce the contributors in this volume. titution of a project based on the use of “art to create
healing spaces in hospitals.” In this work, art is dis-
cussed as a mediator to help people express their un-
The Comments
derstanding of their state of health/disease, of their
It’s been a thorough path across the multiple fringes of identity as patients within the medical institution,
how sensoriality and aesthetics intersect with the field and as protagonists of a program that through qual-
of therapy and care in multiple contexts. These two itative research techniques within a phenomenolog-
concepts have been deconstructed indeed in distinct ical framework, and through the organization of a
aspects and meanings by different papers. Plural forms final exhibition, invites all social actors getting in
of human expression, and multiple ways of socially touch with the project to explore around the question:
organising—either at the level of representation or at “where does healing come from?” Still, Dieppe’s paper
that of practice—sensory perceptions have been elicited stimulates broader questions relating to medical plu-
in the ethnographic analysis of the sensory aspects of ralism matters, such as: are the healing practices, and/
therapy and of its meaningfulness and effectiveness. or the apparatuses provided by current health systems
I proposed, with very encouraging feedbacks in- more thinkable of as “sanctuaries of care,” or as “su-
deed, a medical anthropological analysis of contem- permarkets” (filled with diverse models of knowledge
porary “music therapy” practices in Northern Italy, and intervention virtually anyone can resort to, pick
by highlighting the multiple ways in which, through from and draw on)?
the study of here-and-now, embodied interactions be- Also, the work of Jaana Erkkilä-Hill introduced
tween the therapist and the patient, a thick description the public space and “setting” issues. The Slow Labs
of the ethos of care, the epistemology of healing, and project is a program in Finland aiming at creating
the social and political imbrication of music therapy what I would call “proto-therapeutic” spaces, where
practices can be articulated, by unfolding the implicit the expressive tools for meaning-making and for so-
models of personhood and disease music therapy rep- cializing personal storytellings are driven by starting
resentations and practices convey. from the non-verbal grammar of art and creativity.
Bernd Brabec de Mori argued for a step back into Erkkilä-Hill’s presentation introduced some issues
considering the gnoseological and ontological status pertaining to the creation of free, empty, available,
of the concept “aesthetics” for an anthropology of the slow, still-standing spaces, not biased with any expec-
auditory. What is at stake there is the judicial, norma- tation on the side of users and bystanders of produc-
tive nature of aesthetics, considered either as the hu- ing any thing. The Slow Lab configures a participa-
man experience of fruition of/participation in a sense- tive approach and consequent methodologies in order
Curare 42 (2019) 3+4
Sensory Approaches in Health, Care and Medical Anthropology 19
to develop and provide caring methods and routines, nated with me. The definition of the word “healing”
spaces and activity schedules, that fit individual us- was more difficult for me to come to a clear conclu-
ers’ requirements and requests and thus express “in- sion about, even though I have been researching it for
clusive” values. In this framework, one would wonder: some years. The word can be used as a noun, an adjec-
what is the social status of vacuum, e.g. silence, as a tive or a verb: it is used to describe practices of heal-
factor of care? ing, the healing process, or the outcomes (the healed
Sjaak Van der Geest’s paper introduced the neces- state). Furthermore, today the word “healing” is used
sity to explore a diametrically opposite fashion of the to mean different things by conventional Western me-
“aesthetic” in human experience and anthropologi- dicinal practitioners (who use it to denote wound heal-
cal methodology, by focusing not on pleasurable pieces ing and other repair processes in the body), and the
of art and expression, creativity, metaphors and nar- so-called complementary and alternative medicine
rative—all conveyed through various sensoria and practitioners (who generally use the word to describe
non-verbal mediators—but, on the contrary, on the an holistic process that involves achieving integrity
“unpleasant” as a matter of social construction and of mind, body and soul, leading to wholeness, rather
negotiation, both in everyday practices of ordinary life than just the repair of body parts).
as well as illness and care, and in the ritual arena of During the meeting it also became apparent that
healing. A “well-known,” but highly untracked, fringe there was some confusion between the concepts of
of human experience emerges as a terrain suitable for “healing,” “curing,” and “treating,” caused in part by
unfolding new opportunities for analysing what con- linguistic problems in different languages (some lan-
stitutes, through the sensory-focused practices of our guages only have one word for all of these concepts).
being in the world as individuals, patients, sick per- For me, “treating” someone with a health problem is
sons. It is clear not by chance at least since Douglas’ about using some intervention to try and help—a very
[2001(1966)] Purity and Danger that what lays be- general concept that can include both “curing” and
yond the comfort zone of decency, outside the mar- “healing.” “Curing” is a more restricted concept, it is
gins of the solar system of moral and (in fact) aesthetic about trying to find some pathological cause for illness
values, shows various practices of shamefulness pave and then eradicating that cause, so that the person
the way for us to mediate our identity and our belong- is returned to their previous state or to “normality;”
ing, to position and negotiate our own selves’ person- “curing” is based in the current biomedical, reductive,
hood and agency in the interaction with the others. materialistic concept of how the world works. In my
(Leonardo Menegola: personal communica- opinion this approach, which has a stranglehold over
tion 2019-07-04) medicine, is not enough to describe how illness can
and should be treated.
I am a doctor with a long-standing interest in healing, “Healing,” I think, is different and more compat-
and a more recent interest in arts and health, so this ible with a spiritual, or metaphysical view of how the
was the meeting for me. There are very few academics world works. Many different ideas were aired about
studying either subject, and a paucity of serious meet- its meaning and its facilitation; beautiful concepts
ings about them. And I was not disappointed by the such as:
meeting in Münster, it was wonderful. – Transformation leading to Well-Being
The words “aesthetics” and “healing” are both slip- – Sense-Making beyond the “Rational”
pery, and difficult to define. This is perhaps because – Synchronicity and Harmony
there is a major experiential aspect to both. An added – Crafting an Improved Self
problem is that the words have varying usage in differ- – Co-creation of Wholeness
ent cultures and languages. So what are “aesthetics” – Stepping into Another Reality
and what is “healing?” There was much useful dis- – Flourishing
cussion on both subjects during the two and half days – Grace and Love
of this meeting, and it was clear that both words were – Spiritual Transformation
interpreted slightly differently by different attendees. – Re-Orientation to Greater Meaning
“Aesthetics,” I concluded, was about sensory ex- – An Emergent Property of the Whole
periences that can enchant—a beautiful concept pro- Each of these fantastic words or phrases are in my
vided by one of the speakers, and one that really reso- notes from the meeting. The final speaker tried to de-
Curare 42 (2019) 3+420 Helmar Kurz
fine healing for us—a bold undertaking that was, for how things really work. Watching my patients jour-
me, both helpful and successful, but one that I think ney through this process, knowing that I was just a
still requires more work and discussion. During the bystander, a reflector at most, brought me to the re-
meeting we heard a lot about different artistic/creative alisation that I was participating in something not
activities that might help facilitate the healing of indi- understood or even acknowledged by biomedicine and
viduals. They varied from movement and dance, mu- being the well-trained scientist that I am, I wanted
sic, visual arts, making things, the natural environ- to understand the underlying principles. So, I started
ment, religious rituals, to medical interventions. We reading and thinking. I guess I was also trying to rec-
were assailed with a rich mix of different approach- oncile the apparent opposites in me—the “homeopath”
es, within varying countries and cultures, all of them and the “biologist.”
aimed at the transformation of people to a better state. Helmar’s conference arrived at the almost perfect
The talks on these subjects were both engaging and en- time: I had decided to return to Europe to live, pri-
lightening. marily to continue with this work, and I was ready to
Many of the presentations were about healing prac- get out there and see what others thought. My first en-
tices in countries within the developing world; excel- counter in Münster on the first day was with a fellow
lent anthropological studies of healing in different cul- South African from Rhodes University, working on as-
tures from those of most of the speakers who live in pects of our own political and cultural healing pro-
Westernised rich countries where biomedicine dom- cess; we laughed about politicians and I knew I’d be
inates. So, what is the role of healing in such coun- ok. That feeling continued and grew—as the talks and
tries? Well, I think it has a crucial role. Biomedicine the discussion proceeded, I realised that I had lucked
offers us much in terms of improved health; it is good out; these people would “get” what I needed to com-
at many things, such as infectious disease, surgery for municate, and I would learn enormous amounts from
bad hips and knees and for cataracts, and many other them. So many of the themes that I had identified over
conditions. But biomedicine finds it difficult to offer my years of reading came through and it was a joyous
much help to people with chronic pain and many other and exciting confirmation for me.
chronic conditions, to those with age-related disorders Transitional spaces seemed essential for any sort
such as dementia, and the increasing numbers with of healing and were discussed by almost all the speak-
multi-morbidity (more than one health problem). And ers, but what are they and how are they created? Dirck
even when a cure is achieved for others, many such van Bekkum addressed this at length and believed that
patients are left with mental suffering and identity is- what we learned through observing indigenous heal-
sues resulting from their illnesses that require heal- ing practices should be translated to inform biomed-
ing. Healing can help all of these people. So, I believe ical contexts. It has already been acknowledged in
that we must find ways of combining the “art” of heal- psychotherapeutic circles—Carl Rogers called it ‘un-
ing with the “science” of curing. We must integrate conditional positive regard’ or love, but it needs to be
healing and curing to achieve integrity of mind, body authentic. Within these transitional spaces, a strange
and soul. (Paul Dieppe: personal communication or magical sort of process occurs that was often char-
2019-07-04) acterised as creative or imaginative (Anja Lüpken)
where the patient frequently relived old trauma (Svea
I was very nervous in the weeks leading up to the Lindner) or brought memories to mind (Anja Lüpken)
AGEM Healing conference; I had never presented these which would then bring about a change within or a
ideas before, even though they had been forming for ‘crafting of an improved self’ (Joanna Kühn). This is
the better part of ten years – I guess I never had the essentially transformation of the self, a common ob-
courage. I knew they were still ill-formed, but I need- servation among healers, which was first directly men-
ed the opinion of others to move forward. So, I had to tioned by Leonardo Menegola, a music therapist, who
gather myself and compile something semi-intelligi- described it as a transformation of personhood. He dis-
ble, worthy of presentation. Healing is a fundamental cussed techniques of transformation as part of a ho-
human experience that, as a practicing homeopath, listic approach, something very difficult to realise as
I have witnessed many times. It filled me with awe a therapist—how do you conceive of and deal with a
and fulfilled something very deep inside, something whole which you then attempt to influence and heal—
important about how human beings really operate, but he mentioned noticing small details in the patient
Curare 42 (2019) 3+4
Sensory Approaches in Health, Care and Medical Anthropology 21
that he used to represent the whole which struck me Western biomedicine and find a more complete way to
quite deeply. Homeopaths use small, usually peculiar, treat our patients. Not only does biomedicine largely
individually characteristic details in their patients dismiss ideas of transitional spaces and healing jour-
that can be viewed as analogues to the whole; this is neys, but its dominance obscures any other perspec-
our way into the whole when diagnosing. It also re- tive, both Western alternative and Indigenous. My
minded me of the spiritual principle—“as it is above, brave stab at a definition of healing turned out to be
so below”—the microcosm mirrors the macrocosm… too biased towards homeopathy—understandable—
much like holograms. but what I learned from a few days with a group of
Tessa Bodynek brought up the idea of the wounded mainly medical anthropologists, some artists and
healer: that in order to heal, you need to have been some medical doctors is that through creating our
healed, which sparked an interesting discussion on own transitional space, we could gently, but critically
how psychotherapists are expected to undergo their share ideas and knowledge across disciplines and that
own therapy during their training and certainly res- this was the only way to possibly forge a transforma-
onated with my own experience. I think it might be tion within medicine which itself may go some way to
about the personal experience of trauma allowing you healing the split between ‘science’ and ‘magic’. I also
to connect to your patient and also enabling you to felt that I’d made some friends on my own journey into
create that safe transitional space—the mutual recog- healing the split in me. (Natalie Harriman: per-
nition of pain, of our common humanity and the com- sonal communication 2019-08-05)
plete acceptance of that and the other which facilitates
connection, and this is what many people see as key to
The Contest
healing (Paul Dieppe). Paul also spoke of the stepping
into another reality, through the gateways of religion Divergent approaches toward a conceptualization
and perhaps art which chimed with Anja’s and Svea’s of the aesthetics of healing framed the conference
work on dance. Andrew Hatala characterised this re- and continue to contest in this volume. The diver-
ality as a shared mythical world between patient and sity of contributions illustrates the multivocality
healer who were on a journey together where meaning of perspectives and the challenge of how to grasp
was generated through the body. it in theoretical and practical terms. This special
Journeying was a common theme in all of the dis- issue consists of double-blind peer-reviewed arti-
cussions, and I think it may be a key aspect and dif- cles and other formats such as reflections, a key-
ferentiator when trying to define healing and it is log- note and essays. I want to clarify that this structur-
ically connected to the theme of transformation – a al categorization does not mirror any evaluation of
journey through an altered reality in a transitional or the contents but rather differentiates (anthropo-
liminal space to another way of being, guided by one logical) research reports, reflections on the topic,
who has already taken that journey. My question then and practitioners’ accounts. This multiperspectiv-
is why, what for? The answer that seemed to emerge ity constitutes the uniqueness of this project.
during the discussion was new or greater meaning. Inga Scharf da Silva is an artist and anthro-
Paul’s work characterised this as a movement from pologist with whom I share my interest in Bra-
chaos to order or fragmentation to integration. Per- zilian spiritual healing practices. From my per-
haps illness is a form of chaos, breakdown, and heal- spective, her painting Hoffnung (“hope”) in the
ing is that search for a new integrated order with a dif- conference’s official poster and program inte-
ferent orientation or meaning? grates many of the aspects we are discussing here.
By the time it came to my turn to speak, I was con- The cover of this volume has been a template for
fident that I was in sympathetic company, but I was that painting and she reflects on her experiences
nervous—I had decided to stick my neck out and at- and intentions to contribute her work to our the-
tempt a definition of healing. I think we need some- matic discussion (in German and English).
thing concrete to use as a connector and a differen- Keynote speaker Graham Harvey explores
tiator to collectively describe this phenomenon and I how animist concepts may inform practices and
think we can find that definition though collabora- experiences of well-being and healing. Whereas
tion, through finding what it is that is shared. We can especially in the 19th century, evolutionist anthro-
then use it to begin a challenge to the dominance of pologists used this term to denigrate alleged “pre-
Curare 42 (2019) 3+422 Helmar Kurz
modern” systems of knowledge and practices, he riences by concentrating on oneself and only from
illustrates how to apply it as a tool to describe, there to (re-)engage with a particular environment
analyze and interpret health-related models of and dynamics of socio-cultural transformation.
“selves” in their relation to particular environ- In a different geographical but nonethe-
ments. He compares and reflects on ethnogra- less comparable context, Tessa Bodynek ex-
phies from around the world, including accounts plores (Afro-)Brazilian approaches of negotiating
on North America’s First Nations. “selves” in mediumship practices. Besides provid-
Although not applying the concept of animism ing multiple accounts on sensory aspects in the
to “make sense” of their research data, the first religion of Umbanda, she addresses a realm that
two of the total seven peer-reviewed articles share has us rethink and adjust our categories and con-
the perspective of how comparable approach- cepts: do we understand healing as “transforma-
es inform experiences and practices of healing. tive,” that is, a way to learn to understand and live
On an auto-ethnographic base, Cathy Fournier with our affliction, or as “restorative” in terms of
and Robin Oakley discuss the opportunity and redistributing a previous state of well-being (cf.
its challenges to integrate North American First Waldram 2013)? Taking this further, her account
Nations Indigenous healing knowledge and prac- maintains the discussion on what is healing and/or
tice with cosmopolitan medicine to facilitate what curing (cf. Waldram 2000).
they identify as a Two-Eyed Seeing. Instead of favor- Sabrina Melo Del Sarto and Esther Jean
ing one, and diminishing another approach, their Langdon refer to another quite contested Bra-
complex discussion on the impact of (post-)colo- zilian phenomenon of Spiritist psychiatries (cf.
nial negotiations of health postulates and facili- Theissen 2009; Bragdon 2012) which has also
tates healing cooperation (cf. Incayawar et al. 2009; been my focus of research. While not neglecting
Voss & Schubert 2018) in terms of a therapeutic my interpretation of Spiritist practice (cf. Kurz
diversication as opposed to discourses on the su- 2017) as aesthetic and comforting engagement
premacy of any therapeutic approach or “medical with patients, they clarify that it depends on so-
systems” (cf. Baer et al. 2013; Krause et al. 2012, cio-economic capital and resources. Moreover,
2014). they illustrate how spiritual practices like the passe
Andrew R. Hatala and James B. Waldram (“laying-on hands”), which I describe as soothing
investigate Q’eqchi’ Maya aesthetics of healing and supportive, may be also experienced as trans-
practices in Belize as unequivocally related to so- gressive and disciplinary practices of control.
cio-cultural formative processes of cosmovision, Redirecting our gaze to Europe and other
relationality, morality, and environmental factors. forms of “control” in terms of “measuring afflic-
Whereas both, Fournier and Oakley’s, and Hat- tion,” Shirley Chubb, Ann Moore, Kambiz Sa-
ala and Waldram’s contributions address aes- ber-Sheikh, and Neil Bryant introduce their
thetic qualities regarding “Indigenous healing” in innovative and interdisciplinary research project
accordance to Harvey’s account, they offer quite Significant Walks which focuses interoceptive pro-
different views on the “compatibility” or “trans- cesses related to the experience of pain and envi-
latability” of healing practices and their aesthetic ronmental stimuli. They investigate the impact of
modulations (cf. Kirmayer 2015 on the example walking on patients with chronic low back pain
of mindfulness). by combining video documentation with simul-
Johanna Kühn mediates these alleged op- taneously gathered biomechanical data and nar-
posing perspectives by investigating meditation rative accounts. Their research project thus com-
practices in Lebanon as spaces of bodily and sen- bines different media and technologies to analyse
sory informed negotiations of identity especially sensory aspects of affliction and therapy success.
among young middle-class women who experi- Hannah Drayson discusses the media of
ence themselves as torn between “cultural tradi- taste and language as related to health, illness,
tion” and “cosmopolitan modernity.” From this and healing. Referring to the human experience
point of view, “healing” does not attempt to fix or of bitterness, she illustrates how in many cultures
(re-)establish social relations (cf. Turner 1968) “suffering” is linguistically related to the experi-
but to mediate controversial and disruptive expe- ence of bitter tastes, and how bitter substances in
Curare 42 (2019) 3+4You can also read
