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Dziedzictwo przodków i tożsamość narodowa – współczesna szamanka (baqsï) w filmie kazachskim i badaniach etnologicznych

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Penkala-Gawęcka D.

Prace Etnograficzne

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2017

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vol. 45

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issue 1

35-54

EN

This paper deals with problems of nation-building and constructing national identities in the newly independent Central Asian countries, focusing on Kazakhstan and the personage of a female shaman – the main character of the film Baksy, as an incarnation of Kazakh national ideals and values. This depiction is confronted with a presentation of the real baqsï living in the village in the south of Kazakhstan who was a prototype of Ayday Apa from the film. Based on my research conducted in Almaty between 1995–2000, I compare these characters with urban shamans and other spiritual healers, showing their hybridised ideas and healing practices. I argue that since they have to adapt to the demands of urban, multi-ethnic clientele, they do not present themselves as carriers of the ancestral heritage, as Kazakh village healers often do. However, it is the shaman of the latter kind who was presented in the film, because she could be used as an epitomisation of presumed national Kazakh values such as commitment to the ancestral land and deep spirituality. The case discussed in the paper is only one example of the numerous efforts to boost national self-identity and pride, observed in various cultural, social and scientific activities in contemporary Kazakhstan.

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Poganek rutowaty (Peganum harmala L.) w tradycjach ludów Azji Środkowej i jego popularność w dobie pandemii COVID-19 – perspektywa antropologii medycznej

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Penkala-Gawęcka D.

Medycyna Nowożytna

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2023

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vol. 29

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issue 1

135-164

EN

Syrian rue (Peganum harmala L.) has been traditionally used in Central Asia for medical purposes, e.g. for treating skin diseases, joint pain, sore throat and cough. It is also applied as an apotropaic means – fumigation with the smoke of burning dried twigs of Syrian rue is commonly practised to ward off evil spirits, “evil eye” and other malevolent forces. According to the other explanations, it has purifying effects and kills microbes. In this article I briefl y outline early descriptions of Peganum harmala in the medical texts of scholars and physicians representing Greek- Arabic-Persian medicine, and focus on the role of this plant in people’s everyday life in Central Asia, based on my field materials from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and literature. In addition, I present the career of Peganum harmala in Central Asian countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, when fumigation with its smoke has been widely practised to protect against the coronavirus. Syrian rue was also used – beside several other plants – by some heads of state, who promoted local traditional medicines at time when they were failing to tackle the pandemic crisis. Applying an anthropological perspective, I pay particular attention to the wider context of these developments and analyse socio-cultural, political and economic factors that have contributed to the increased popularity of Peganum harmala. I also point out possible benefits of testing traditional herbal medicines as potential treatments for COVID-19 and other viral infections and refer to Asian traditional medical systems, especially traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), whose contribution to overcoming the pandemic has been recognised by the WHO.

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Nie tylko leczą, nie tylko odżywiają... Aktyk i inne „napoje zdrowotne” w Kirgistanie

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Penkala-Gawęcka D.

Medycyna Nowożytna

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2024

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vol. 30

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issue Suplement I

387-407

EN

Studies on folk and traditional medicine conducted in various regions of the world reveal that medicines, and especially medicinal plants, can hardly be differentiated from “healthy food” treated as having healing properties or good for prevention against disease. Therapeutic recommendations often include prescription for a special diet. For example, it is always considered necessary for successful treatment according to humoral concepts of health and illness, popular in parts of Central Asia. In addition, both food and medicines often have symbolic meanings. They can serve as markers of ethnic and cultural identity, signs of long-standing tradition and/or religion. Such roles of traditional medicines and food in Central Asia were connected with the efforts of the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union, trying to legitimise their existence through references to their rich cultural heritage. In this article I analyse these issues on the example of a “healthy drink” called aktyk, which has gained in popularity in Kyrgyzstan during the period of my ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Bishkek between 2011–2013. I discuss its connections to similar drinks, kymyz in particular, and various methods, including manipulations of “tradition”, employed by the producers of aktyk in order to attract the clients. Furthermore, I present the perspective of aktyk’s users, who seem rather pragmatic and focused on achieving health improvement.

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2 Medycyna Nowożytna

1 Prace Etnograficzne

3 Penkala-Gawęcka D.

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Dziedzictwo przodków i tożsamość narodowa – współczesna szamanka (baqsï) w filmie kazachskim i badaniach etnologicznych

Poganek rutowaty (Peganum harmala L.) w tradycjach ludów Azji Środkowej i jego popularność w dobie pandemii COVID-19 – perspektywa antropologii medycznej

Nie tylko leczą, nie tylko odżywiają... Aktyk i inne „napoje zdrowotne” w Kirgistanie