Health and Ritual in Morocco—Conceptions of the Body and Healing Practices

Originally published in Spanish and here made available in English translation, this book will interest an exceptionally wide audience of scholars, policy makers, and practitioners involved with Muslim culture and religion as well as those involved with health care. The study is specific to Morocco, but much can be generalized or understood as starting points for further research elsewhere. Combining archival research with interviews--conducted only after the establishment of rapport and trust since the issues are so personal--the author explores representations of the body and of health and disease, and social power and religious aspects of associated rituals. Dieste (social and cultural anthropology, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain) devotes chapters to notions of the person; purity and impurity; gender and social ages; plural notions of illness and treatment; possessions, magic, and psychosomatic afflictions; and sexuality and reproduction. Annotation c2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Josep Lluis Mateo Dieste, Ph.D. (2002), European University Institute (Florence), is Professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. He has published numerous books and articles on Morocco, including La “hermandad” hispano-marroqui (Edicions Bellaterra, 2003).