Illness Beliefs and Feeding the Dead in Hindu Nepal an Ethnographic Analysis

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Pages:150
ISBN:0-88946-060-4
978-0-88946-060-7
Price:$139.95 + shipping
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Analyzes villagers' cultural use of food and food symbols and contrasts Hindu Nepalese social ideology with that of the Western world, where individualism and equality are expressed and valued.

Reviews

". . . an excellent short monograph on the sociocultural embeddedness of illness. . . . [The author] situates her presentation within debates on holism, hierarchy, and individualism in greater South Asian anthropology, linking her succinct account to Dumont's reconstruction. . . . in addition to its insights into medical beliefs and practice and food symbolism, provides an engaging portrait of interpersonal dynamics among Brahams of Nepal and contributes to the general ethnography of these groups. Those interested in greater Hindu society and culture as well as those interested in Nepal will find material for comparative reflection. . . . would make an excellent text for courses in the anthropology of illness and disease. In an accessible, concise, and ethnographically sensitive manner, Stone makes a central point in the anthropology of medicine and weaves her discussion into comparative debates about hierarchy and individualism." - American Ethnologist

". . . logically argued and well written . . . supported with abundant data . . . . In a magnificent table, Stone summarizes the relations between humans and spirits according to feeding links - the fed, the unfed, and the fed upon." - Scholarly Research and Review

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