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Genealogies of
affliction: Aetiological regimes and causal assessment in a
South Indian sub-caste
Zoé E. Headley
This article examines a set of five aetiological regimes used by
members of a South Indian sub-caste to frame their narrations of
the socio-cosmic origin of physical and mental suffering. The
ethnography exposed in this article will show both how the
process of identifying the origin of a given affliction operates
by trial and error and how the retroactive narration of such
processes, by the afflicted individuals, brings to light a set
of causal categories. These offer preliminary insight in causal
assessment in and around the socio-cosmic diagnosis of
affliction.
Keywords: Aetiology; Affliction, Punishment; Sorcery;
Possession |
