Sacraments’ in the Hospital

Exploring the Magic and Religion of Recovery

Dados Bibliográficos

ID7640756
AutoresVan Der Geest (0000-0002-9943-6415, University of Amsterdam, autor correspondente), Sjaak Van Der Geest
Ano2005
Volume12
Fascículo2
Páginas135-150
Data de publicação2005-08-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAnthropology and Medicine (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1364-8470 • E-ISSN: 1469-2910
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13648470500139957
PMID26868461
OpenAlexW2122939041
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas16
Referências citadas30

This article proposes to look at the ritual dimension of hospital work, a chain of words and acts, which fill patients with hope for a 'future life'. Conventional boundaries between magic, science and religion are reconsidered. The author argues that biomedicine, far from being a cultural no-man's land, represents the basic values of culture. It provides a space where doctors, nurses and patients find their deepest convictions and values demonstrated and confirmed. Medical words and interventions express and re-create people's belief in the canons of science and biomedicine as ultimate truth. Pointing out the religious dimension of medicine in no way belittles medicine's role and therapeutic efficacy. Rather it provides us with a better understanding of the 'mechanics' of recovery

Biomedicine · Cultural, Psychoanalytic, and Sociopolitical Reflections · Hermeneutics and Narrative Identity · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology