Why are there so many drums playing until dawn? Exploring the role of gamba spirits and healers in the postwar recovery period in central Mozambique
Article
Article Title | Why are there so many drums playing until dawn? Exploring the role of gamba spirits and healers in the postwar recovery period in central Mozambique |
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ERA Journal ID | 201669 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | |
Author | Igreja, Victor |
Journal Title | Transcultural Psychiatry |
Journal Citation | 40 (4), pp. 459-487 |
Number of Pages | 29 |
Year | 2003 |
Place of Publication | United Kindgom |
ISSN | 1363-4615 |
1461-7471 | |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461503404001 |
Web Address (URL) | http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1363461503404001 |
Abstract | In the wake of a civil war, local resources can play a potential role in shaping the recovery process by providing both old and new exegeses for the disturbing effects of the past. Using the case of Gorongosa, this article aims to explore the ways in which the war has impacted upon traditional medicine by creating Gamba spirits that cause havoc but can also transform the psychosocial hurts of war survivors. Historically, traditional healing practice was under the sole responsibility of the Dzoca, an ancestral spirit that for generations was embodied in living people through lineage descent to exercise its healing powers. There is consensus among healers that the Gamba spirit and healers emerged after the war and are rapidly spreading throughout Gorongosa. I explore the emic theories to explain the Gamba’s puzzling origins and the role they are currently playing in Gorongosa. |
Keywords | Central Mozambique, Gamba spirits and healers, post-war reactions, recovery strategies, traditional medicine |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 420313. Mental health services |
Public Notes | File reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher/author. |
Byline Affiliations | Leiden University Medical Centre, Netherlands |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q33qz/why-are-there-so-many-drums-playing-until-dawn-exploring-the-role-of-gamba-spirits-and-healers-in-the-postwar-recovery-period-in-central-mozambique
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