The Place of Healers-Diviners (Ombiasa) in Betsileo Medical Pluralism

Autores/as

  • O. Legrip-Randriambelo Université Lyon 2, Centre de Recherches et d'Etudes Anthropologiques
  • D. Regnier London School of Econmics (LSE)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/hcs.2014.188

Resumen

This article is concerned with the training and curing practices of Betsileo ombiasa (‘healers-diviners’), and their relationships with biomedical practitioners and Christian healers, in particular Fifohazana exorcists. We first give an account of what we think is characteristic in the process of becoming an ombiasa, highlighting in particular the role of ancestors and other spiritual entities. We then give a brief description of the ombiasa’s healing practices and the kind of remuneration they usually ask for. In the last part of the article we discuss their collaboration and conflicts with other health practitioners, showing how ombiasa are constantly adapting their practice to avoid open confrontations with their competitors, accommodate their patients’ expectations and continue to carve out a niche for themselves within Betsileo medical pluralism.

Biografía del autor/a

O. Legrip-Randriambelo, Université Lyon 2, Centre de Recherches et d'Etudes Anthropologiques

Olivia Legrip-Randriambelo is an anthropologist (PhD, University of Lyon 2) attached to the Laboratoire de recherche historique Rhône-Alpes (LARHRA, UMR 5190). She conducts research at the interface of medical anthropology and the anthropology of religion, especially on the healing practices of healers-diviners (ombiasa) and exorcists of the Lutheran revival movement (Fifohazana) in the Betsileo region of Madagascar.

2014    (à paraître) : avec D. Burguet, « Commerces, savoirs et sacralité. Les marchés urbains aux plantes médicinales sur les Hautes Terres centrales de Madagascar », in Paroles de ville, Sy K. (dir.), L’Harmattan.

2014    (à paraître) : « Une reine estimée bien malvenue. Dissimulation des esprits possesseurs en région betsileo », Études Océan Indien, n°50, Inalco, Paris.

2014    (à paraître) : co-direction avec D. Burguet, « Autour des entités sacrées. Approches pluridisciplinaires et nouveaux terrains à Madagascar », Etudes Océan Indien, n°50, Inalco, Paris.

2014    « L’intermédicalité malgache. Itinéraires thérapeutiques sinueux en région Betsileo », in Autour du soin. Pratiques, représentations, épistémologie, Thomas P., Fernandes A., Kessler-Bilthauer D., Megherbi S., Morales La Mura Q. (dir.), Presses Universitaires de Nancy, pp.115-128.

2010    « Du zoro firarazana à l’autel catholique et de la mémoire familiale au support vidéo : accumulations et nouveaux usages « modernisés » des images religieuses », Etudes Océan Indien, n°44, Inalco, Paris, pp.185-214.

D. Regnier, London School of Econmics (LSE)

Denis Regnier is an anthropologist (PhD, London School of Economics and Political Science) affiliated to the Laboratoire d’anthropologie des mondes contemporains (LAMC), Université Libre de Bruxelles. He has carried out extensive fieldwork on the condition of slave descendants in the southern Betsileo highlands of Madagascar, and is currently working on a new research project on a small Dayak group in South Kalimantan (Borneo).

 Forthcoming (2015). « Clean people, unclean people : history, cognition and the essentialization of ‘slaves’ among the southern Betsileo ». Social Anthropology 23(2)

Forthcoming (2015). « Pourquoi ne pas les épouser ? L’évitement du mariage avec les descendants d’esclaves dans le Sud Betsileo (Madagascar) ». Études Rurales 194

Forthcoming (2015). « Tombes ancestrales et super mariages à Madagascar ». In F. Valentin & G. Delaplace (eds.), Le funéraire. Mémoire, protocoles, monuments. Paris: De Broccard.

Forthcoming (2014). « Les esclaves morts et leur invocation dans les rituels du Sud Betsileo ». Etudes Océan Indien 51

 

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Publicado

2014-12-15

Número

Vol. 7 Núm. 1 (2014): Cohabitation of Traditional and Modern Medicine in Madagascar: anthropological analyses

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