ISSUE OF THE INTERCULTURAL DIALOG IN THE MODERN FUNCTIONING OF ETHNOMEDICAL PRACTICES OF THE UPPER AMAZON POPULATIONS

Abstract

Since the late XX - early XXI century social anthropologists in the Amazon Basin have been increasingly focusing not only on the functioning of ethnomedicine in the indigenous cultures as such but also on the transformations of healing traditions. Caused by intercultural contacts, these transformations have intensified in the course of the above-mentioned period and have been associated with formation of large number of neo-shamanic centers practicing ceremonies with plant hallucinogens and oriented mostly towards ethno-tourists from the industrialized Western countries. The author uses her field research data collected in the neo-shamanic centers that combine healing techniques and therapeutic approaches of ethnomedical traditions of the Peruvian Amazon Basin indigenous populations with modern Western biomedicine and psychotherapy techniques. The article presents comparative analysis of the neo-shamanic practices at healing centers and traditional shamanic (curanderos’) practices in the Amazon Basin. A number of innovations in those activities that facilitate patient-healer mutual understanding and create conditions for therapeutic effects are pointed out. These innovations include participation of certified Western physicians and psychologists in the diagnostics and counseling of patients and use of Western group psychotherapy techniques elements by neo-shamans - in particular, a larger share of verbal communication in comparison with traditional healing practices. The author’s research substantiates the notion that efficient patient-healer contacts are based on mastering worldview elements of the communication partner by both interaction parties as well as on interpretation by intermediaries representing Western culture who are initiated into the Amazon curanderismo tradition.