A Little Anthropology

My research into Liminal Spaces led me to this interesting anthropological topic, of the relationship between health and a life well lived. Ania and I have quite a lot to report to the group tomorrow, so I thought I'd only talk briefly about this in class and be more detailed here.

In Mark Augé's book Non-places: Introduction to an Anthropology of Supermodernity he talks about the Akan civilisations (from Ghana and the Ivory Coast), and their belief that the psyche of each person is made up of two 'entities': the body and the shadow (which I have understood to symbolise their spirits). They attribute weakness of body and illness with the
separation of these two entities, and health is defined by 'their perfect coincidence' (p. 61).

It struck me that this links to homesickness, in that when we travel it is as though we are leaving a part of ourselves behind, that in foreign countries we never feel fully connected or complete. Then homesickness or travel sickness kicks in. If we use Akan philosophy it is clear what has happened: our entities have become severed and as a result, our health suffers. I'd be interested to explore health as a symbol of home, or feeling at home, or of family and
culture.

Alice Hansen