The Minangkabau Healers And Healing Methods: A Structural Analysis

• Main Author: Stark, Alexander
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: BJ1-2195 Ethics. Social Usages. Etiquette; BP1-253 Islam
• Online Access: http://eprints.usm.my/48549/1/ALEXANDER%20STARK%20_hj.pdf; http://eprints.usm.my/48549/
• Institution: Universiti Sains Malaysia

In this thesis the researcher wants to illustrate the healing methods of the Minangkabau in West Sumatra. It looks at one village of the interior and describes the different healing methods of the Minangkabau in that village. The aim is to illustrate the different ways of treatment and to analyze it in a structural way by following the ideas of Claude Levi-Strauss and Josselin de Jong. For many anthropologists, structuralism and its methodology are outdated, but this thesis intends to show that a structural approach is still fruitful and could contribute to analyze traditional healing methods. Furthermore, this thesis will illustrate that there are different types of healers with their own ways of treatment within one village society and its network. The research objectives are to explore the Minangkabau healers and their healing methods. The different types of healers, healing methods and plants should be categorized. This thesis will also examine whether Frederick Errington’s hypothesis that the Minangkabau are sign-oriented is correct in the field of healing. The Minangkabau society is both part of Southeast Asia and part of the Islamic world and therefore this research shows in how far these healing methods are embedded within a greater context. The research discovers that there are three types of healers who still play an important role in the health of the local population. There are three elements of healing methods that play a certain role. Unique patterns of the Minangkabau healing methods are described by the researcher and give an impression why traditional healing methods are still relevant.