From the Bush: The Front Line of Health Care in a Caribbean Village

by Marsha B. Quinlan

This case study will be the first to deal with a topic in medical anthropology. It explores the world of folk medicine in the Caribbean (Dominica) - local beliefs and practices concerning how the body functions and malfunctions and the home remedies Dominicans use to cure common illnesses. The case study goes beyond discussing the exotic medical system of a developing country (which includes sorcery and folk-illnesses) to discuss how folk medicine flourishes in industrialized countries in a way that is little different than that practiced in Dominica. The theme is that cultural ideas about the body and uses of medicinal plants are deeply intertwined. Ideas about illness direct the consequent medical response. The book's topic is important because knowledge of local ethnomedical practice is essential for development of public health interventions in non-Western settings. This realist ethnography is aimed at any member of the generally educated population.

Genres: Anthropology, Science

152 pages, Paperback

First published February 6, 2003

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plant medicine information is excellent and interesting. The balance between reporting and storytelling is lacking. Also there are no interviews or perspectives written by the villagers, so there feels like a lot of potential for a larger work, but it's not quite there.

[MissPosabule · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the topic isn't my personal favorite, I found the methodology section extremely helpful for my own work. I think this book will help others who are curious about anthropological data-gathering methods.

[Resa Boydston · Rating 2 out of 5]

i read this book for my SO312; Culture, Health and Illness class. at times it was hard to read (stay focused on), but it did contain a ton of information.

[Kaira Ceres]

♡ Low key a little fraudulent that I marked this as read because I skimmed a lot of it for a school assignment.