A failure of treatment

Author(s)

• Lewis, Gilbert

Bibliographic Information

A failure of treatment

Gilbert Lewis

（Oxford studies in social and cultural anthropology）

Oxford University Press, 2000

• : hbk
• : pbk

Note

Bibliography: [252]-253

Includes index

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

: hbk ISBN 9780198234081

Description

A serious illness may bring other events into focus. This text is about the circumstances surrounding an illness which struck a man in middle life, its impact on him and on the people of his West Sepik village. It records both failure and continuing belief after the failure of local treatments, Western medicine, and of a great communal effort to bring a spirit to heal him. The issues of distress, isolation in illness, and the hope of relief are universal ones, but in this setting in New Guinea they have to be placed in a framework of tentative explanations because of the harsh material conditions. To follow the course of this man's illness is to see how illness can reshape events and test social ties. The book unfolds a social drama, as it traces people's anxieties, the pressure upon them to take immediate action to try to remedy the situation, and their growing realization that they have failed. Through the text runs the problem of hope and belief in healing.

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.

Volume

: pbk ISBN 9780198234098

Description

A serious illness may bring other events into focus. This book is about the circumstances surrounding an illness which struck a man in middle life, its impact on him and on the people of his West Sepik village. It records both failure and continuing belief the failure of local treatments, Western medicine, and of a great communal effort to bring a spirit to heal him. The issues of distress, isolation in illness, and the hope of relief are universal ones, but in this setting in New Guinea they have to be placed in a framework of tentative explanations because of the harsh material conditions. To follow the course of this man's illness is to see how illness can reshape events and test social ties. The book unfolds a social drama, as it traces people's anxieties, the pressure upon them to take immediate action to try to remedy the situation, and their growing realization that they have failed.Through the text runs the problem of hope and belief in healing.

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

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

• NCID: BA46840397
• ISBN:
  • 0198234082
  • 0198234090
• Country Code: uk
• Title Language Code: eng
• Text Language Code: eng
• Place of Publication: Oxford ; Tokyo
• Pages/Volumes: xx, 269 p.
• Size: 24 cm
• Classification:
  • NDC9 : 382.736
  • DC21 : 306.461099577
• Subject Headings:
  • LCSH : Medical anthropology -- New Guinea -- West Sepik
• Parent Bibliography ID:
  • BA13119564