The Performance of Healing – Carol Laderman, Marina Roseman – 1996
The Performance of Healing
This work, a collaboration between Carol Laderman and Marina Roseman, examines healing rituals across diverse cultures, specifically focusing on how healing is enacted as a performance rather than solely as a biomedical intervention. The authors delve into the theatrical aspects of healing – the roles played by healers and patients, the use of symbolism, the elicitation of emotion, and the structured sequences of actions – to demonstrate how these elements contribute to the healing process. It moves beyond assessing whether a healing works physiologically, to consider how its efficacy is culturally constructed and experienced.
Historical / Cultural Context
Published in 1996, “The Performance of Healing” emerged from a growing anthropological interest in the social and cultural dimensions of health and illness. It responded to a perceived gap in medical models that often overlooked the significance of belief, ritual, and social context. The authors draw on extensive ethnographic fieldwork from regions including Nepal, Mexico, and the United States, demonstrating a comparative approach to understanding universal themes in healing practices. The book is situated within a broader scholarly conversation examining the placebo effect, the mind-body connection, and the power of suggestion, contributing a specifically anthropological perspective by emphasizing the culturally-shaped nature of these phenomena.
Who This Book Is For
This book is best suited for readers with an academic interest in anthropology, medical anthropology, religious studies, and performance studies. It requires some familiarity with ethnographic methodology and cultural theory. While accessible to a motivated general reader, the depth of the analysis and the theoretical framework make it more appropriate for those engaged in scholarly pursuits. It provides valuable insights for anyone interested in the intersection of culture, belief, and healing.
Further Reading
- Arthur Kleinman, The Illness Narrative (1988): Explores the patient’s experience of illness and the role of narrative in healing.
- Emily Martin, The Woman in the Body (1987): Examines how cultural metaphors shape understandings of the body and illness.
- Victor Turner, The Ritual Process (1969): Provides a foundational framework for understanding ritual as a transformative process, relevant to the analysis of healing rituals.
Disclaimer.
Oraclepedia is an independent educational and cultural project. The material presented explores myths, belief systems, symbolic traditions, and aspects of human perception from historical, cultural, and psychological perspectives.
Content is provided for informational and reflective purposes only and does not promote specific beliefs, spiritual practices, or ideological positions. Interpretations presented reflect scholarly, cultural, or symbolic analysis rather than factual claims about the natural world.