TY - JOUR
T1 - Curanderismo
T2 - An Emic Theoretical Perspective of Mexican-American Folk Medicine
AU - Trotter, Robert T.
AU - Chavira, Juan Antonio
N1 - Funding Information:
1. Theinitial phase of this research wassupported by a grant from the Regional Medical Program of Texas (RMPT Grant No. 75-108G). Further efforts at data collection were supported by the Texas Commission on Alcoholism, PanAmerican University andtheauthors themselves. 2. These articles and books are bynomeans an exhaustive list, ascanbe seen bytheappended bibliography. However, they arethearticles most frequently cited andused asreference materials. The others vary widelyin historical relevance and in scholarship. The one thing that time hasnot seemed to diminish is the enthusiasm for both imperfect and repetitious descriptions of curanderismo in reputedly scholarly journals, as can be seen by comparing Bourke (1896) with Davis (1979). 3. Since theauthors were living "inthefield" forthis entire time period, it waspossible to conduct research on a continuous (at least one contact per week) basis. This condition mayhave materially aided in achieving the goals of the research project. 4. Starr County issometimes considered a part of theValley, sometimes not. Inthis case solittle research bearing on this article was conducted in Starr County that it has been omitted. 5. Curanderos with whom we had only one contact are not counted in this figure, although they did provide us with supporting data. It should also be noted that theauthors deliberately did not contact brujos (sorcerers or witches), who are known for doing antisocial magic. The effects of the brujo's work forms a part of the curandero's practice, but actual interviews have not been conducted with them. 6. Projecto Comprender (RMPT Grant #75-108G, etc.) funded by the Regional Medical Program ofTexas.The authors andseveral other project personnel produced amonograph (Trotter andChavira 1975),afilm"Los Que Curan," and a seven-part slide series with synchronous sound, "Curanderismo: An Alternative Health Care System." 7.Aninteresting sidelight ofthis point isthefact that thecuranderoswho worked both sides of the border stated that there was far more brujeria (witchcraft) practiced ontheUnited States side than inMexico. One of the authors feels this could form the central topic of research to look at brujeria from the perspective of conflict theory, as a measure of social dissonance within a community both in teens of 8) perceived or real inequality and b) cultural (ethnic) conflict—both inter-and intra-group ramifications. 8. The authors have specimen samples of many of the herbs that are mentioned in the paper. However, not all of them have as yet been identified either byscientific nomenclature or bycommon English names
PY - 1980/9
Y1 - 1980/9
N2 - In this article curanderismo, Mexican-American folk medicine, is treated as a systematic body of healing theories rather than a mass cultural phenomenon. Using professional healers as informants for a period of over four years, the authors define and describe curanderismo from the emic theoretical perspective, not only providing explanations for the ties between the “Mexican Folk Illnesses” previously reported in the literature, but also showing the evolution and future of curanderismo as a holistic health care system.
AB - In this article curanderismo, Mexican-American folk medicine, is treated as a systematic body of healing theories rather than a mass cultural phenomenon. Using professional healers as informants for a period of over four years, the authors define and describe curanderismo from the emic theoretical perspective, not only providing explanations for the ties between the “Mexican Folk Illnesses” previously reported in the literature, but also showing the evolution and future of curanderismo as a holistic health care system.
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U2 - 10.1080/01459740.1980.9965881
DO - 10.1080/01459740.1980.9965881
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84973049210
VL - 4
SP - 423
EP - 487
JO - Medical Anthropology: Cross Cultural Studies in Health and Illness
JF - Medical Anthropology: Cross Cultural Studies in Health and Illness
SN - 0145-9740
IS - 4
ER -