Permeable Bodies: Posession in Dersim

Abstract

Abstract: The local etiology of mental disorders in the Alevi healing tradition of Dersim point to intruders from

mystical realms, “mılaket”, who posess human selves with a weakened sense of personal will. Liminal temporalities

and spaces are categorized as providing the setting for symbiotic encounters between the human selves and nonselves.

In this work, a short introduction into the local belief on posession will be provided. The actual operation

of agency in the experience of posession is exemplified on the narrative account of a local healthcare officer, who

stands between modern medicine and the local healing tradition. The co-existence of biomedicine and Alevi

healing tradition in Dersim is less burdened by the necessity of “trans-cultural translation”, as many of the practicing

biomedical professionals and administrative workers in healthcare are rooted in the Dersim Alevi culture. The reason

for the possibility of co-existence can be that, the marcation lines between biomedicine and Alevi healing tradition

is drawn by Dersim Alevi healthcare professionals themselves.

Keywords

• Medical pluralism,spirit posession,Alevi healing tradition,Dersim,subjectivity,liminality

References

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