Some Complementary Medicines in Post-Soviet Kazakhstan as Conveyers of Meaning and Manifestations of Values

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Author(s)

Penkala-Gawęcka, Danuta

Title

Some Complementary Medicines in Post-Soviet Kazakhstan as Conveyers of Meaning and Manifestations of Values

Publication Type

Journal Article

Language

eng

Number of Pages

7

Location

Kazakhstan

Keywords

traditional medicine

social practices

others

Relevance to ICH Safeguarding

identification

transmission

promotion

awareness raising

ICH Genre

traditional medicine

social practices

ICH transmission

Description

This article discusses some remedies of complementary medicine used in post-Soviet Kazakhstan. Since the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, complementary medicine has gained great popularity and the support of the state in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The popularity of various complementary methods of treatment, from folk medicine and “great medical traditions” to relatively new therapies and medicines of different origins, may be partly explained by the economic dificulties of the period of transition to market economy, which have made people search for cheaper treatment. The other reason was the rapid deterioration in the state health care system. However, there are also other factors, connected with the ideology of the new state, promoting cultural heritage of the Kazakh – the titular nation. It is argued in this article that those issues could be studied through medicines, and especially through the meanings and values attributed to them. Some complementary medicines represent traditional values of the Kazakh culture or the culture of other ethnic groups, or are treated as expressions of the ancient wisdom of the East. There are also such medicines that appeal to the aspirations to modernity and epitomise the authority of science. This outline of the “histories of medicines” shows a wide spectrum of meaning and values ascribed to remedies of complementary medicine which can also contribute to its popularity.

Book/Journal Title

Curare. Journal of Medical Anthropology

Place of Publication

Berlin, Germany

Date of Publication

2011

Volume

34 (1-2)

Pages

29-35

Usage

copyright cleared

Academic Field

Anthropology

Traditional knowledge and skills

Contributor

Kazakhstan National Committee for Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage

Active Contribution

Kazakhstan, FY 2024