6 - Healing Insanity: Skills and Expert Knowledge of Igbo Healers
Corresponding Author(s) : Patrick Iroegbu
Afrique et développement,
Vol. 30 No 3 (2005): Afrique et développement: Numéro Spécial 'All knowledge is first of all local knowledge'
Résumé
Cette communication expose la conception que les guérisseurs igbos du Sud du Nigeria, se font de la folie, ainsi que la façon dont ceux-ci se servent des connaissances et de l'expertise endogène pour la guérir, contrairement à la croyance répandue selon laquelle seule la médecine orthodoxe cosmopolite serait en mesure de soigner la folie. Le recours au soutien et à la culture communautaires demeure une des méthodes les plus consensuelles de traitement de la folie et des troubles connexes. Même si les médicaments pharmaceutiques demeurent disponibles, les ressources aux herbes et rituelles locales, ainsi que les moyens communicationnels et corporels constituent un réel atout favorisant le traitement holistique de la démence. Même si les recherches effectuées ont relevé des ten sions entre les conceptions locales, chrétiennes et biomédicales, cet article soutient que les traitements thérapeutiques se révèlent efficaces, lorsque léétiologie et la thérapie intègrent un savoir-faire ancestral, en symbiose avec les opinions, les émotions et les univers de vie des individus. Cette communication propose une théorie endogène de la libération symbolique, à la base d'une certaine stratégie cosmologique et épistémologique authentiquement igbo, qui s'accompagne du rituel consistant à attacher et détacher, dans le but de libérer les forces tourmentées par l'intrusion, mais également dans le but de mettre en place un traitement basé sur des ressources aux herbes et animales ayant une certaine signification culturelle. Pour venir en aide à l'individu ou au groupe de personnes apparentées, il faut tout d'abord extraire de la personne les forces qui l'habitent, avant de pouvoir procéder à un traitement efficace.
Télécharger la référence bibliographique
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)BibTeX
- Ademuwagun Z.A., 1979, 'The Challenge of the Co-existence ofOrthodox and
- Traditional Medicine in Nigeria. In: Ademuwagun Z. A. et al., (eds), African Therapeutic Systems,
- Walthan, Mass: Crossroads.Press, pp. 165-170.
- Anezionwu, N.O., 1988, Chukwu ka Dibia, Ahiajoku Lecture, Owerri, Culture Division.
- Ahyi, G.R., 1997, 'Traditional Models of Mental Health and Illness in Benin', In: Hountondji P.,
- (ed.), Endogenous Knowledge: Research Trails, Dakar: Codesria.
- Bloch M., 1998, 'Why Trees, too, are Good to think with: Towards anAnthropology of the Meaning of
- Life', In: Rival L., (ed), The Social Life of Trees, Anthropological Perspectives on Tree
- Symbolism, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- De Boeck F., 1994, OfTrees and Kings: Politics and Metaphors Among the Aluund
- of Southwestern Zaire, American Ethnologist, 21(3):451-473.
- Devisch R., 1993, Weaving the Threads of Life: The khita gynecological healing cuit among the Yaka,
- Chicago, University of Chicago Press.
- Feierman, S. and Janzen, J.,eds., 1992, The Social Basis of Health and Healing in Africa, Berkeley:
- University of California Press.
- Janzen, J.M., 1978, The Quest for Therapy. Medical Pluralism in Lower Zaire,
- Berkeley: University ofCalifornia Press.
- Kleinman, A., 1980, Patients and Healers in the Context of Culture: an Exploration of the
- Borderline between Anthropology, Medicine, and Psychiatry, Berkeley: University of California
- Press.
- Last, M. and Chavunduka, G.L., eds., 1986, The Professionalisation of African Medicine, Manchester
- University Press and International African lnstitute
- Lambo, T.A., 1961, 'A Plan for the Treatment of the Mentally Ill in Nigeria. The
- Village System of Aro', In: L. Linn, (ed.), Frontiers in General Hospital Psychiatry, New York:
- University of New York Press, pp. 215-231.
- Myss, C., 1996, Anatomy of the Spirit: The Seven Stages of Power and Healing,
- New York: Three Rivers Press.
- Turner, V., 1967, The Forest ofSymbols: Aspects ofNdembu Ritual, Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University
- Press.
- Zelter, A., 1998, 'Grassroots Campaigning for the World 's Forests', In: Rival L., (ed.), The
- Social Life of Trees: Anthropological Perspectives on Tree 5ymbolism, Oxford: Oxford University
- Press.
Les références
Ademuwagun Z.A., 1979, 'The Challenge of the Co-existence ofOrthodox and
Traditional Medicine in Nigeria. In: Ademuwagun Z. A. et al., (eds), African Therapeutic Systems,
Walthan, Mass: Crossroads.Press, pp. 165-170.
Anezionwu, N.O., 1988, Chukwu ka Dibia, Ahiajoku Lecture, Owerri, Culture Division.
Ahyi, G.R., 1997, 'Traditional Models of Mental Health and Illness in Benin', In: Hountondji P.,
(ed.), Endogenous Knowledge: Research Trails, Dakar: Codesria.
Bloch M., 1998, 'Why Trees, too, are Good to think with: Towards anAnthropology of the Meaning of
Life', In: Rival L., (ed), The Social Life of Trees, Anthropological Perspectives on Tree
Symbolism, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
De Boeck F., 1994, OfTrees and Kings: Politics and Metaphors Among the Aluund
of Southwestern Zaire, American Ethnologist, 21(3):451-473.
Devisch R., 1993, Weaving the Threads of Life: The khita gynecological healing cuit among the Yaka,
Chicago, University of Chicago Press.
Feierman, S. and Janzen, J.,eds., 1992, The Social Basis of Health and Healing in Africa, Berkeley:
University of California Press.
Janzen, J.M., 1978, The Quest for Therapy. Medical Pluralism in Lower Zaire,
Berkeley: University ofCalifornia Press.
Kleinman, A., 1980, Patients and Healers in the Context of Culture: an Exploration of the
Borderline between Anthropology, Medicine, and Psychiatry, Berkeley: University of California
Press.
Last, M. and Chavunduka, G.L., eds., 1986, The Professionalisation of African Medicine, Manchester
University Press and International African lnstitute
Lambo, T.A., 1961, 'A Plan for the Treatment of the Mentally Ill in Nigeria. The
Village System of Aro', In: L. Linn, (ed.), Frontiers in General Hospital Psychiatry, New York:
University of New York Press, pp. 215-231.
Myss, C., 1996, Anatomy of the Spirit: The Seven Stages of Power and Healing,
New York: Three Rivers Press.
Turner, V., 1967, The Forest ofSymbols: Aspects ofNdembu Ritual, Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University
Press.
Zelter, A., 1998, 'Grassroots Campaigning for the World 's Forests', In: Rival L., (ed.), The
Social Life of Trees: Anthropological Perspectives on Tree 5ymbolism, Oxford: Oxford University
Press.