| Indigenous Ancestors and Healing Landscapes: Cultural Memory and Intercultural Communication in the Dominican Republic and Cuba Contributor(s): Pesoutová, Jana (Author) |
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ISBN: 9088907625 ISBN-13: 9789088907623 Publisher: Sidestone Press OUR PRICE: $222.75 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: December 2019 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Medical | Healing - History | Caribbean & West Indies - Cuba - Social Science | Anthropology - General |
| Physical Information: 1" H x 7.2" W x 10.3" (2.33 lbs) 390 pages |
| Themes: - Cultural Region - Caribbean & West Indies |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: In Indigenous Ancestors and Healing Landscapes Jana Pesoutov presents new interpretations of current healing practices in Cuba and the Dominican Republic juxtaposed against the European colonization of the Caribbean after 1492. By combining data from critical historical analyses and ethnographic fieldwork, this research examines current healing landscapes and their historical background in both countries. This dissertation situates the continuous importance of non-institutional healing practices within the rich symbolism of Cuban and Dominican landscapes. More specifically, the study focuses on practices promoting physical, mental and spiritual healing of individuals and communities. It provides various examples that illustrate human interactions with divine and ancestral beings residing in places such as water sources, caverns, or manifested in plants and other natural phenomena. Data presented in this work guides our understanding of how local cultural memory plays a key role in our construction of medicinal histories, and the profound demographic and landscape transformations which shaped the healing landscapes after European conquest. Healing landscapes are also testimonies of the Cuban and Dominican ancestors' creativity, resilience, capacity to heal and find unity in the dehumanizing and alienating atmosphere of colonial violence and exploitation. This book is not aimed solely for academic public, but also those interested in Caribbean cultures, and the history of medicinal practices. |
Contributor Bio(s): Pesoutova, Jana: - Jana Pesoutová was born in Český Brod, Czech Republic in 1987. After obtaining her bachelor's degree in applied linguistics at Palacký University in Olomouc in 2010, she moved to the Netherlands where she completed her Master in the Management of Cultural Diversity. Drawing on theories from social psychology, her master's thesis focused on the impact of the social exclusion and its relationship with extremism among the youth. From 2013 she carried out her doctoral research as a part of the 1492 Nexus project at Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, The Netherlands. |