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Department of Anthropology

Medical Anthropology Research Group Seminars

Medical Anthropology Seminars (MARG): Between scary tales and scarred genes: hybrid cosmologies of placental oddities in Southern Thailand

Presented by Dr Claudia Merli, Durham University

28 January 2009 12:00 in Anthropology Seminar Room (D104), Dawson Building

Indigenous midwives and elderly women in Southern Thailand recall to have witnessed childbirths whose products did not at all times include a child but rather weird masses of flesh. Discarded by some biomedical local practitioners as weird scary tales without construct, these phenomena are fully recognised in scientific literature as the result of abnormal fertilisation. The local cosmology and treatment of the placenta mirror the always present possibility of these events, as placentae are appeased with incantations and practices to tame their liminal status.

Contact a.j.russell@durham.ac.uk for more information

We welcome proposals for discussion papers, presentations, etc. If you would like to contribute, please contact Dr Andrew Russell or Dr Claudia Merli.

Seminars will continue next academic year. If you would like to be included on the MARG mailing list to receive information on these and other announcements, please contact Vicki McGowan