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..
Abstract
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).
- Subjects
- Music
- Ingroup antagonisms
- Family relationships
- Parents-in-law and children-in-law
- Magical and mental therapy
- Spirits and gods
- Revelation and divination
- Congregations
- culture
- Greeks
- HRAF PubDate
- 2003
- Region
- Europe
- Sub Region
- Southeastern Europe
- Document Type
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- John Beierle ; 2002
- Field Date
- Sept. 1975 - Sept. 1976
- Coverage Date
- not specified
- Coverage Place
- village of Ayia Eleni, nomos of Serres, Macedonia, Greece
- Notes
- Loring M. Danforth
- For bibliographical references see source 83: [Loizos and Papataxiarchis]
- LCCN
- 90047780
- LCSH
- Greece