Julie Parle (2007) States of Mind: searching for mental health in Natal and Zululand, 1868-1918. Pietermaritzburg: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press. In the mid-1960s while conducting anthropological research in the rural Philippines, I became involved with several spirit mediums who were successfully treating–with what are now called ‘alternative’ therapies–local men and women suffering from various physical and mental ailments. Having been introduced to the possibilities, techniques, and at times the curative power of non-biomedical practices, I was eager to read Julie Parle’s recent volume, States of Mind: searching for mental health in Natal and Zululand, 1868-1918. I was looking for parallels and contrasts to my own much more limited research. I found a great deal more.
By Transformation