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Dialectical Construction and Deconstruction of Contemporary African Medicine

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2022

Benson A. Mulemi
Benson A. Mulemi*
Affiliation:
Innovation & Graduate Training Catholic University of Eastern Africa
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Extract

African medicine is an important component of the cultural adaptive system. The system has been evolving interminably in response to changing environmental vulnerabilities and health care needs since primordial times. Flexibility of indigenous African ethnomedicine and its associated customs has since time immemorial incorporated new techniques and knowledge. The resulting textual and discourse heritage on African medicine has often depicted its dialectical interrelationship with western biomedicine and other medical systems. The oral and documentary records on the authenticity of African medicine either conceal or condescend to its contributions to overall healthseeking and illness behaviour. Tensions in conceptualisation of African medicine relate to its pragmatic borrowing from non-African medical systems that are compatible with local pluralistic systems and indigenous ontology. The advent of colonial and post-colonial health care paradigms further define the emergence of dialectics in the documentation and appraisal of African medicine against western standards of science and health care practices.

Type
Research Article
Information
African Research and Documentation , Volume 129: African Medicine Matters: Documenting Encounters in Medical Practice and Healthcare , 2016 , pp. 3 - 21
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2016

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Footnotes

1

The initial version of this paper was presented as the keynote address at the SCOLMA conference, African Medicine Matters: documenting encounters in medical practice and healthcare, held in Cambridge on 6th September 2016

References

References

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Baronov, D. (2008). African Transformation of Western Medicine and the Dynamics of Global Cultural Exchange, Philadelphia: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
Bruning, R. H., Schraw, G. J., & Ronning, R. R. (1999). Cognitive psychology and instruction. 3rd ed., Upper Saddle River, NJ, Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Farnsworth, N.R., Akerele, O., Bingel, A.S., Soejarto, D.D. & Guo, Z. (1985.). Medicinal Plants in Therapy, Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 63 (6), pp. 965-981.Google Scholar
Gathura, G. (2016). Treasured herbal medicines not safe as study exposes killer germs, Sunday Nation, July 10 2016, Nairobi: Nation Media Group.Google Scholar
Geest, S. Van der (1997). Is there a role for traditional medicine in basic health services in Africa? A plea for a community perspective. Tropical Medicine & International Health, 2(9), pp. 903-911CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geest, S. Van der & Finkler, K. (2004). Hospital ethnography: introduction. Social science & Medicine, 59(10), pp. 1995-2001CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gurib-Fakim, A. & Kasilo, O. M. (2010). Promoting African Medicinal Plants through an African Herbal Pharmacopoeia. African Health Monitor, 13, pp. 64-67Google Scholar
Harris, M. (1979). Cultural Materialism: The Struggle for a Science of Culture, New York: Random HouseGoogle Scholar
InterAfrican Committee on Medicinal Plants and African Traditional Medicine. (1985) African pharmacopoeia = Pharmacope'e africaine Vol. 1. Lagos, Organization of African Unity, Scientific Technical & Research CommissionGoogle Scholar
Last, M. (1986). Introduction: The professionalisation of African medicine: ambiguities and definitions, in Last, M., & Chavunduka, G. L. (eds), The professionalisation of African medicine. Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 1-28.Google Scholar
Livingston, J. (2012). Improvising Medicine: An African Oncology Ward in an Emerging Cancer Epidemic. Durham & London: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Makinde, M.A. (1988). African Philosophy, Culture and Traditional Medicine. Athens, Ohio: Centre for International Studies, Ohio UniversityGoogle Scholar
Morris, B. (2011). Medical Herbalism in Malawi, Anthropology & Medicine, 18(2): 245-255CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mulemi, B.A. (2004). Medicine: Overview, In Peek, P. M., & Yankah, K. (eds.). African folklore: An encyclopedia. London Routledge, pp. 492-498Google Scholar
Mulemi, B. A. (2010). Coping with cancer and adversity. Hospital ethnography in Kenya, Leiden: African Studies CentreGoogle Scholar
Mulemi, B.A. (2017). Therapeutic Eclecticism and Cancer Care in a Kenyan Hospital Ward, in Olsen, W.C. and Sargent, C. (eds.) African Medical Pluralism, Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Mutungi, O.K. (1971). Witchcraft and the Criminal Law in East Africa, Valparaiso University Law Review, 5(3). Available at: http://scholar.valpo.edu/vulr/vol5/iss3/3, accessed on August 30, 2016Google Scholar
Mutungi, E., Kioli, R N., & Mulemi, B. A. (2015). Healed and Crippled: The Effect of Global Medicine on African Indigenous Treatment and Care Approaches. Journalism, 5(9), pp. 471-479.Google Scholar
Rekdal, O. B. (1999). Cross-Cultural Healing in East African Ethnography. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 13, (4), pp. 458-482CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scott, G. (2010). Traditional medical practice in Africa, in Kayne, S.B. (ed.), Traditional Medicine: A global perspective, London: Pharmaceutical Press, pp. 82-118.Google Scholar
Stalin, J. (1975). Dialectical and Historical Materialism, Calcutta: Mass PublicationsGoogle Scholar
Taiwo, O. (1993). ‘Colonialism and Its Aftermath: The Crisis of Knowledge Production'. Callaloo, 16(4), pp. 891-908.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tamokou, Jean-de-Diue and Kuete, V. (2014)..Toxic Plants Used in African Traditional Medicine, in Kuete, V. (ed.) Toxicological Survey of African Medicinal Plants, London: Elsevier, pp.135-180CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waldron, I. (2010). The marginalization of African indigenous healing traditions within Western medicine: Reconciling ideological tensions & contradictions along the epistemological terrain. Women's Health and Urban Life, 9 (1), pp. 50-68Google Scholar
Watt, J.M. and Breyer-Brandwijk, M.G. (1962). The Medicinal and Poisonous plants of Southern and Eastern Africa. Edinburgh and London: E&S Livingston Ltd.Google Scholar
http://www.ancient-origins.net/history-ancient-traditions/traditional-africanmedicine-and-its-role-healing-modern-world-004522?page=0%2Cl, Accessed on Dec 15,2016 Google Scholar
Abdullahi, A. A. (2011). Trends and challenges of traditional medicine in Africa. African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines, 8(5), pp. 115-123.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Baronov, D. (2008). African Transformation of Western Medicine and the Dynamics of Global Cultural Exchange, Philadelphia: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
Bruning, R. H., Schraw, G. J., & Ronning, R. R. (1999). Cognitive psychology and instruction. 3rd ed., Upper Saddle River, NJ, Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Farnsworth, N.R., Akerele, O., Bingel, A.S., Soejarto, D.D. & Guo, Z. (1985.). Medicinal Plants in Therapy, Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 63 (6), pp. 965-981.Google Scholar
Gathura, G. (2016). Treasured herbal medicines not safe as study exposes killer germs, Sunday Nation, July 10 2016, Nairobi: Nation Media Group.Google Scholar
Geest, S. Van der (1997). Is there a role for traditional medicine in basic health services in Africa? A plea for a community perspective. Tropical Medicine & International Health, 2(9), pp. 903-911CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geest, S. Van der & Finkler, K. (2004). Hospital ethnography: introduction. Social science & Medicine, 59(10), pp. 1995-2001CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gurib-Fakim, A. & Kasilo, O. M. (2010). Promoting African Medicinal Plants through an African Herbal Pharmacopoeia. African Health Monitor, 13, pp. 64-67Google Scholar
Harris, M. (1979). Cultural Materialism: The Struggle for a Science of Culture, New York: Random HouseGoogle Scholar
InterAfrican Committee on Medicinal Plants and African Traditional Medicine. (1985) African pharmacopoeia = Pharmacope'e africaine Vol. 1. Lagos, Organization of African Unity, Scientific Technical & Research CommissionGoogle Scholar
Last, M. (1986). Introduction: The professionalisation of African medicine: ambiguities and definitions, in Last, M., & Chavunduka, G. L. (eds), The professionalisation of African medicine. Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 1-28.Google Scholar
Livingston, J. (2012). Improvising Medicine: An African Oncology Ward in an Emerging Cancer Epidemic. Durham & London: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Makinde, M.A. (1988). African Philosophy, Culture and Traditional Medicine. Athens, Ohio: Centre for International Studies, Ohio UniversityGoogle Scholar
Morris, B. (2011). Medical Herbalism in Malawi, Anthropology & Medicine, 18(2): 245-255CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mulemi, B.A. (2004). Medicine: Overview, In Peek, P. M., & Yankah, K. (eds.). African folklore: An encyclopedia. London Routledge, pp. 492-498Google Scholar
Mulemi, B. A. (2010). Coping with cancer and adversity. Hospital ethnography in Kenya, Leiden: African Studies CentreGoogle Scholar
Mulemi, B.A. (2017). Therapeutic Eclecticism and Cancer Care in a Kenyan Hospital Ward, in Olsen, W.C. and Sargent, C. (eds.) African Medical Pluralism, Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Mutungi, O.K. (1971). Witchcraft and the Criminal Law in East Africa, Valparaiso University Law Review, 5(3). Available at: http://scholar.valpo.edu/vulr/vol5/iss3/3, accessed on August 30, 2016Google Scholar
Mutungi, E., Kioli, R N., & Mulemi, B. A. (2015). Healed and Crippled: The Effect of Global Medicine on African Indigenous Treatment and Care Approaches. Journalism, 5(9), pp. 471-479.Google Scholar
Rekdal, O. B. (1999). Cross-Cultural Healing in East African Ethnography. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 13, (4), pp. 458-482CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scott, G. (2010). Traditional medical practice in Africa, in Kayne, S.B. (ed.), Traditional Medicine: A global perspective, London: Pharmaceutical Press, pp. 82-118.Google Scholar
Stalin, J. (1975). Dialectical and Historical Materialism, Calcutta: Mass PublicationsGoogle Scholar
Taiwo, O. (1993). ‘Colonialism and Its Aftermath: The Crisis of Knowledge Production'. Callaloo, 16(4), pp. 891-908.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tamokou, Jean-de-Diue and Kuete, V. (2014)..Toxic Plants Used in African Traditional Medicine, in Kuete, V. (ed.) Toxicological Survey of African Medicinal Plants, London: Elsevier, pp.135-180CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waldron, I. (2010). The marginalization of African indigenous healing traditions within Western medicine: Reconciling ideological tensions & contradictions along the epistemological terrain. Women's Health and Urban Life, 9 (1), pp. 50-68Google Scholar
Watt, J.M. and Breyer-Brandwijk, M.G. (1962). The Medicinal and Poisonous plants of Southern and Eastern Africa. Edinburgh and London: E&S Livingston Ltd.Google Scholar
http://www.ancient-origins.net/history-ancient-traditions/traditional-africanmedicine-and-its-role-healing-modern-world-004522?page=0%2Cl, Accessed on Dec 15,2016 Google Scholar