Healing Dramas

Divination and Magic in Modern Puerto Rico

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Anthropology
Cover of the book Healing Dramas by Raquel Romberg, University of Texas Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Raquel Romberg ISBN: 9780292774612
Publisher: University of Texas Press Publication: January 1, 2010
Imprint: University of Texas Press Language: English
Author: Raquel Romberg
ISBN: 9780292774612
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Publication: January 1, 2010
Imprint: University of Texas Press
Language: English

In this intimate ethnography, Raquel Romberg seeks to illuminate the performative significance of healing rituals and magic works, their embodied nature, and their effectiveness in transforming the states of participants by focusing on the visible, albeit mostly obscure, ways in which healing and magic rituals proceed. The questions posed by Romberg emerge directly from the particular pragmatics of Puerto Rican brujería (witch-healing), shaped by the eclecticism of its rituals, the heterogeneous character of its participants, and the heterodoxy of its moral economy.

What, if any, is the role of belief in magic and healing rituals? How do past discourses on possession enter into the performative experience of ritual in the here and now? Where does belief stop, and where do memories of the flesh begin? While these are questions that philosophers and anthropologists of religion ponder, they acquire a different meaning when asked from an ethnographic perspective.

Written in an evocative, empathetic style, with theoretical ruminations about performance, the senses, and imagination woven into stories that highlight the drama and humanity of consultations, this book is an important contribution to the cross-cultural understanding of our capacity to experience the transcendental in corporeal ways.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In this intimate ethnography, Raquel Romberg seeks to illuminate the performative significance of healing rituals and magic works, their embodied nature, and their effectiveness in transforming the states of participants by focusing on the visible, albeit mostly obscure, ways in which healing and magic rituals proceed. The questions posed by Romberg emerge directly from the particular pragmatics of Puerto Rican brujería (witch-healing), shaped by the eclecticism of its rituals, the heterogeneous character of its participants, and the heterodoxy of its moral economy.

What, if any, is the role of belief in magic and healing rituals? How do past discourses on possession enter into the performative experience of ritual in the here and now? Where does belief stop, and where do memories of the flesh begin? While these are questions that philosophers and anthropologists of religion ponder, they acquire a different meaning when asked from an ethnographic perspective.

Written in an evocative, empathetic style, with theoretical ruminations about performance, the senses, and imagination woven into stories that highlight the drama and humanity of consultations, this book is an important contribution to the cross-cultural understanding of our capacity to experience the transcendental in corporeal ways.

More books from University of Texas Press

Cover of the book Alejo Carpentier by Raquel Romberg
Cover of the book The Vanishing Frame by Raquel Romberg
Cover of the book American Arms Supermarket by Raquel Romberg
Cover of the book Rethinking Iranian Nationalism and Modernity by Raquel Romberg
Cover of the book Katherine Anne Porter and Mexico by Raquel Romberg
Cover of the book I Fought a Good Fight by Raquel Romberg
Cover of the book The Red Caddy by Raquel Romberg
Cover of the book Thomas J. Wise by Raquel Romberg
Cover of the book Philip Freneau by Raquel Romberg
Cover of the book Some of the Dead Are Still Breathing by Raquel Romberg
Cover of the book Twelve Prophets of Aleijadinho by Raquel Romberg
Cover of the book Is This America? by Raquel Romberg
Cover of the book John Ringo, King of the Cowboys by Raquel Romberg
Cover of the book Crescent over Another Horizon by Raquel Romberg
Cover of the book Texian Iliad by Raquel Romberg
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy