The Dom for the Craft and the Gift From God

Ethnographic Explorations Among the Traditional Midwives of Santana

Bibliographic Data

ID2489103
AuthorsMarcus Cardoso (0000-0002-6009-8586), Marcus André De Souza Cardoso (0000-0002-9109-4510, Universidade Federal do Amapá, corresponding author), Raysa Nascimento (0000-0002-4136-1991, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco)
Year2017
Volume14
Issue2
Publication date2017-08-07
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueVibrant Virtual Brazilian Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1809-4341 • E-ISSN: 1809-4341
PublisherFapUNIFESP (SciELO) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1590/1809-43412017v14n2p021
OpenAlexW2743275513
SCIELO_PIDS1809-43412017000200202
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited13

This article studies the traditional midwives living and working in Santana, the second largest city of Amapá state, Brazil. We present and discuss the midwives' worldviews, highlighting how the obligations associated with non-compulsory debts in the cycles of giving, receiving and returning are not limited to the relationship between the patient's family and the midwife. According to local conceptions, the most important relations of obligation associated with the dom for the craft are those established between humans and God. The counter-gift is accomplished through patient care, but as a form of obligation towards God. Assisting the women who seek out the help of the midwives is thus understood as the adequate means of settling the debt with the divine entity

Art · Business · Craft · Debt · Ethnography · Obligation · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Visual arts · Anthropology · Development, Ethics, and Society · Gender Studies · Health, Nursing, Elderly Care · Law · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Religion and Society in Latin America · Social Psychology · Finance

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