The E cacy of Pain and the Blow: On the Experiences with Injection Doctors and Blowing Doctors in Northeastern ailand

IR (HANDLE) Open Access

Bibliographic Information

Other Title
  • <特集論文>注射と吹きかけ --東北タイにおける注射医と呪医の治療効果をめぐって

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Description

To evaluate how we see reality in magic, the "efficacy" of magic must be discussed. Especially in magical cures, which work directly on the body of the sick, verifying the efficacy of magic can become a problem. For example, the well-known division between "disease" and "sickness" is premised upon the notion that traditional medicine involving magic deals with "sickness" and that magic does not have any efficacy in biomedicine. However, we have to cast doubt on the assumption that magic works psychologically and biomedicine works physically. It is not enough to explain the reality of magic as only coming from people's beliefs. As the use of magical cures continues in the present, we have to ask what kind of "efficacy" this magic has. In order to give consideration to the efficacy of magical cures, we will take two traditional magic doctors in northeastern Thailand as examples. One is an "injection doctor, " called "mo cit ya, " who offers unscientific cures by using injections, which are symbolic of modern biomedicine. Another is a "blowing doctor, " called "mo pao, " who deals with bites from poisonous snakes, which should be treated by serum injection according to biomedicine. In northeastern Thailand, from the 1960s to the 1980s, the injection doctors continued to offer their medical services; however, after villagers gained easier access to modern medical services, such as hospitals and health care centers, the injection doctors disappeared. On the other hand, the blowing doctors still continue their services despite the fact that the villagers can get modern medicine more easily than before. While these two traditional doctors seem quite different, they are similar in that people consider some of the senses felt in receiving their cure, such as the pain of injection and the touch of blowing, proof of the "efficacy" of the cure. In these traditional cures, the senses experienced by the sick must be regarded as proof of the "efficacy" of magic, which allows the blowing doctors to remain active practitioners.

Journal

  • Contact zone

    Contact zone 7 (2014), 167-191, 2015-03-31

    京都大学大学院人間・環境学研究科 文化人類学分野

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Details 詳細情報について

  • CRID
    1050564285783292544
  • NII Article ID
    120005733113
  • NII Book ID
    AA12260795
  • ISSN
    21885974
  • HANDLE
    2433/209804
  • Text Lang
    ja
  • Article Type
    departmental bulletin paper
  • Data Source
    • IRDB
    • CiNii Articles
    • KAKEN

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