Questioning misfortune
Subtitle: the pragmatics of uncertainty in Eastern Uganda
By: Susan Reynolds Whyte.
Series: Cambridge studies in medical anthropology ;; 4
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Cambridge; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 258
Subjects: Ethnology -- Uganda -- Bunyole (District); Medical anthropology -- Uganda -- Bunyole (District); Divination -- Uganda -- Bunyole (District); Social problems -- Uganda -- Bunyole (District); Bunyole (Uganda : District) -- Social conditions.; Bunyole (Uganda : District) -- Religious life and customs.
Description: Some of the most interesting new ethnographics of experience highlight the indeterminate nature of life. Questioning misfortune is very much within this tradition. Based on a long-term study of adversity and its social causes in Bunyole, eastern Uganda, it considers the way in which people deal with uncertainties of life, such as sickness, suffering, marital problems, failure, and death. Divination may identify causes of misfortune, ranging from ancestors and spirits to sorcerers.

Sufferers and their families try out a variety of remedial measures, including pharmaceuticals, sorcery antidotes, and sacrifices. But remedies often fail, and doubt and uncertainty persist. Even the recent commercialization of biomedicine, and the peril of AIDS can be understood in terms of a pragmatics of uncertainty.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 242-251) and index.