essay

'Medicines' and the sexual transmission of disease among the Suku of Zaire: (with some relevence to AIDS)

body and space: symbolic models of unity and division in african cosmology and experienceStockholm • Published In 1991 • Pages: 303-314

By: Kopytoff, Igor.

Abstract
This article discusses the cultural meanings and medicinal functions of traditional Suku religious objects called "lineage medicines." These are associated with lineages because, unlike other types of Suku medicine, they are held not by individuals but by the matrilineage. An important function of such medicines is ensuring the corporate wellbeing of matrilineages by controlling the transmission of disease and misfortune due to sexual relations.
Subjects
Theory of disease
Medical therapy
Shamans and psychotherapists
Ethnopsychology
Lineages
Gender roles and issues
Ethnoanatomy
Sorcery
Pharmaceuticals
Sex and marital offenses
Purification and atonement
Avoidance and taboo
culture
Suku
HRAF PubDate
2016
Region
Africa
Sub Region
Central Africa
Document Type
essay
Evaluation
Creator Type
Anthropologist
Document Rating
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
Teferi Abate Adem ; 2014
Field Date
1958-1959
Coverage Date
1920-1959
Coverage Place
Kwango district, Bandundu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Notes
Igor Kopytoff
Includes bibliographical references (p. 314)
LCCN
92168732
LCSH
Suku (African people)