Kuru Sorcery: Disease and Danger in the New Guinea Highlands

by Shirley Lindenbaum

Kuru, a fatal neurological disease thought to be transmitted through cannibalism, is examined in the Fore, a New Guinea people afflicted with the disease, who believe it to be caused by sorcery. The author also discusses Fore beliefs about diagnosis and prevention of other diseases.

Genres: Anthropology, Nonfiction, History, Science, Sociology, Biology

174 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1978

About the author

Shirley Lindenbaum is notable for her medical anthropological work on kuru in Papua New Guinea, HIV/AIDS in the United States of America, and cholera in Bangladesh.Beginning in 1972, she taught cultural anthropology at the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research in New York, before accepting a professorship at the City University of New York. Admired by her colleagues and students, Lindenbaum was the editor of the international journal "American Ethnologist" (1984-1989), and later served as Book Review Editor for "Anthropology Now" (2010-2013). Professor Lindenbaum is currently living in NY and is emerita professor of the Graduate Division of the City University of New York.

Reviews

[Melvin Marsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting little book about Kuru and the tribes reaction and what they felt was going on.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for Medical Anthropology in Biocultural Perspective, and for an assigned academic text, it was actually fascinating. She balances well the epidemiology of kuru with her observations of Fore political organization, social kinship structure, and beliefs about health and illness. There's a constant awareness of context, as if she's always asking, "Okay, so this practice or phenomenon happens. Why? What does it stem from?" I admire that.

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

An older, but invaluable document of the Fore society in a time of great transition. Despite the inclusion of "Kuru" in the title, this isn't a medical study but an anthropological one, discussing how a sweeping, incurable plague impacted a society, how they interpreted it, and what changes this forced. Fascinating reading.

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Real people eating dead people. And getting really sick...

[Thom Dunn]

{Velvetink RECO: for disease transmitted by cannibalsim.}

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting ethnography.