Pluralism, performance and meaning in Taiwanese healing: a case study.
A case of presumed psychosis in a 16-year-old Taiwanese girl is examined to show the role of performance in creating meaning in a plural medical system. The case illustrates that there is no necessary correspondence between diagnoses, authorities, and therapies; that consensus, if achieved at all, is tenuous and context-dependent; that meaning is created by performance, rather than the other way around; and that understanding of how therapies work depends on their efficacy.
Harrell
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Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle 98195.
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008273:Magic; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D008602:Mental Healing / Q000523:psychology*; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D012803:Sick Role; D013624:Taiwan