essay
The resolution of conflict through song in Greek ritual therapy
Contested identities : gender and kinship in modern Greece • Princeton, N.j. • Published In 1991 • Pages: 98-113
By: Danforth, Loring M..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
The ANASTENARIA is a ritual involving trance and possession that is performed in several villages and towns in Greek Macedonia. Basically this ritual is a form of psychotherapy that has often been found effective in treating illnesses of a psychogenic nature. In this paper Danforth suggest an explanation for the effectiveness of the ANASTENARIA that focuses on the manner in which it resolves, both at a symbolic and a social level, the conflicts that often underlie these illnesses. To illustrate, the author examines the relationhip between a wife and her mother-in-law, and shows how this conflict is resolved in one of the songs that accompany the dance of the possessed ANASTENARIDES. Danforth suggest that involvement in the ANASTENARIA can often restructure a patient's social reality in such a way as to resolve the conflicts responsible fot the illness and bring about a cure (p. 98).
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Music
- Ingroup antagonisms
- Family relationships
- Parents-in-law and children-in-law
- Magical and mental therapy
- Spirits and gods
- Revelation and divination
- Congregations
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Greeks
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2003
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Europe
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Southeastern Europe
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- John Beierle ; 2002
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- Sept. 1975 - Sept. 1976
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- not specified
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- village of Ayia Eleni, nomos of Serres, Macedonia, Greece
- NotesAdditional notes
- Loring M. Danforth
- For bibliographical references see source 83: [Loizos and Papataxiarchis]
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 90047780
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Greece