A study of how a sangoma makes sense of her ‘sangomahood’ through narrative

dc.contributor.advisorHuman, Lourens H.en
dc.contributor.emailingyj@mweb.co.zaen
dc.contributor.postgraduateJonker, Ingriden
dc.date.accessioned2013-09-07T06:02:08Z
dc.date.available2008-08-04en
dc.date.available2013-09-07T06:02:08Z
dc.date.created2006-09-05en
dc.date.issued2008-08-04en
dc.date.submitted2008-07-21en
dc.descriptionDissertation (MA (Counselling Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2008.en
dc.description.abstractThis study can be described as a journey into the discourse of ‘sangomahood’. It focuses on the narrative of a female sangoma in South Africa and how she experiences her ‘sangomahood’ and gives meaning to it in her specific cultural context. By qualitatively exploring her narrative an attempt was made to understand and illuminate the experiences informing her ‘sangomahood’. This journey starts with an introduction to the two discourses of health namely the dominant, scientific discourse of Western medicine and the alternative discourse of traditional healing. In this part of the journey the historical, anthropological and sociological perspectives on medicine are discussed, as well as the different views of Western medicine and traditional healing pertaining to healers, practices, illness and patients. The methodology and context of the research are then explained. Narrative analysis is used to explore the themes in the sangoma’s narration. The sangoma’s narrative is then introduced by means of five letters that I, as the researcher, write to her. In these letters I also reflect on the difference between her experience and mine, as well as the impact of her narrative on me as a psychologist trained in the Western perspective. This journey was undertaken to create a greater understanding of the culture and experience of ‘sangomahood’. This research also intends to make psychologists aware that the telling of a narrative is never a neutral process and that their clients’ stories always have a certain impact on them, as listeners. Each individual experience is shaped through time, by a specific cultural context which becomes the lens through which people experience and shape the world.en
dc.description.availabilityunrestricteden
dc.description.departmentPsychologyen
dc.identifier.citationa 2006 G594en
dc.identifier.other/agen
dc.identifier.upetdurlhttp://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-07212008-082041/en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/26475
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherUniversity of Pretoriaen_ZA
dc.rights© University of Pretoria 2006 G594 /en
dc.subjectSociological perspectiveen
dc.subjectAnthropological perspectiveen
dc.subjectHealeren
dc.subjectWestern medicineen
dc.subjectCultureen
dc.subjectHistoryen
dc.subjectNarrativeen
dc.subjectExperienceen
dc.subjectPatientsen
dc.subjectQualitative researchen
dc.subjectNarrative analysisen
dc.subjectIllnessen
dc.subjectHistorical perspectiveen
dc.subjectTraditional healingen
dc.subjectPracticesen
dc.subjectUCTDen_US
dc.titleA study of how a sangoma makes sense of her ‘sangomahood’ through narrativeen
dc.typeDissertationen

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