A Chinese ‘modern’ device transforming the traditional healers’ practices in Cameroon

IF 1.3 Q2 ANTHROPOLOGY Critical African Studies Pub Date : 2023-01-02 DOI:10.1080/21681392.2023.2200011
L. Candelise, Antoine Kernen
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引用次数: 1

Abstract

In the field of health, China's contribution is generally addressed either through its cooperation programmes or by the opening of private clinics by Chinese ‘doctors’. In Yaoundé and Douala, some private practices have been opened and various works have highlighted their role in the dissemination of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in Cameroon. Yet the craze for these structures did not last long. Today, while signs of their existence are still visible, many of these firms are closed. China's influence in the health field is, however, far from negligible, but it is taking place in unexpected areas. The circulation of goods and knowledge from China leaves more room for local reappropriation. Indeed, some Cameroonian traditional healers include knowledge from China in their daily practice through the use of ‘machines’ coming from China to ‘purify the body’, to ‘eliminate fat’, to regulate the tension, to ‘stimulate acupuncture points’ or ‘make diagnosis’ (using the quantum analyser or a ‘diagnostic machine’). From direct observations conducted between 2014 and 2021, this article presents the issues at stake for the practice of traditional healers by the modernization of the field through specific therapeutic devices and the quantum analyser coming from China into the health Cameroonian landscape. The paper demonstrates that the performance of the diagnostic machine has less to do with the concrete efficiency of the diagnosis of pathologies than with the dynamics of visibility vis-à-vis patients. The quantum analyser is, therefore, an interesting element revealing the constant process of renewal of medical pluralism in Cameroon, in which China is playing a central role today.
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一种中国“现代”设备改变了喀麦隆传统治疗师的做法
在卫生领域,中国的贡献一般是通过合作方案或由中国“医生”开设私人诊所来实现的。在yaound和Douala,已经开设了一些私人诊所,各种作品都突出了它们在喀麦隆传播传统中医(TCM)方面的作用。然而,对这些建筑的狂热并没有持续太久。如今,尽管它们存在的迹象仍然可见,但其中许多公司已经关闭。然而,中国在卫生领域的影响远非微不足道,而是发生在意想不到的领域。来自中国的商品和知识的流通给当地留下了更大的空间。事实上,一些喀麦隆的传统治疗师在他们的日常实践中包括来自中国的知识,通过使用来自中国的“机器”来“净化身体”,“消除脂肪”,调节紧张,“刺激穴位”或“诊断”(使用量子分析仪或“诊断机器”)。根据2014年至2021年间进行的直接观察,本文通过来自中国的特定治疗设备和量子分析仪进入喀麦隆健康领域,提出了传统治疗师实践中面临的问题。本文论证了诊断机器的性能与病理诊断的具体效率关系不大,而与-à-vis患者可见性的动态关系较大。因此,量子分析仪是一个有趣的元素,揭示了喀麦隆医疗多元化的不断更新过程,而中国今天在这一过程中发挥着核心作用。
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来源期刊
Critical African Studies
Critical African Studies Arts and Humanities-Arts and Humanities (all)
CiteScore
3.00
自引率
0.00%
发文量
19
期刊介绍: Critical African Studies seeks to return Africanist scholarship to the heart of theoretical innovation within each of its constituent disciplines, including Anthropology, Political Science, Sociology, History, Law and Economics. We offer authors a more flexible publishing platform than other journals, allowing them greater space to develop empirical discussions alongside theoretical and conceptual engagements. We aim to publish scholarly articles that offer both innovative empirical contributions, grounded in original fieldwork, and also innovative theoretical engagements. This speaks to our broader intention to promote the deployment of thorough empirical work for the purposes of sophisticated theoretical innovation. We invite contributions that meet the aims of the journal, including special issue proposals that offer fresh empirical and theoretical insights into African Studies debates.
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