ANTH 150 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Multiple Choice, Somatization, Jinn
Document Summary
Women"s self-image rests on her procreative ability and her sense of social value. Identified with the inside, are protected and dependent. Intrusions from outside most likely to be registered in women"s bodies. Part of class of beings called jinn. They are natural beings in an alternate world. Zar possession is first experienced as illness, possession is lifelong. In experience women can"t always uphold the moral self-image they are encouraged to (376) example: infertility. It helps her defend parts of the self. It shifts illness from internal contradiction to external confrontation - offers potential for a negotiated resolution. It allows her to incorporate action from another world (a zar"s world) Illness is reframed so that it becomes compatible with her sense of self. Ex: she is fertile but the zar is preventing her from being so. Considered religious syncretism - combines one or more religious traditions. Syncretic religions are often formed in a colonial context.