Body, Memory and Power: A Cultural Reading of the Midwife Healer of the Andes

Maria Luisa Torres, Purdue University

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes the literary and cultural figure of the midwife-female healer of Latin America, giving special emphasis to the Andean countries of Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. This study is based on the recovery and analysis of the collective Andean memory found in stories, legends, traditions, myths, medical practices and lore related to the treatment of perceived ailments of the female body, together with childbirth practices. The midwife has been considered primarily as an object to be trained in order to improve conditions related to hygiene and public health. Importantly, however, the midwife is one of the oldest, wisest, and most respected women of her community. As such, she constitutes a key figure for the transmission of the community's memory and collective sense of identity from generation to generation. This study includes an analysis of the representation of the female body through time as well. It points to relevant periods that have had an impact on the history of medical ideas and the understanding of the body. For instance, in Medieval Europe the body was considered to be forbidden, something that needed to be concealed. In contrast, in the pre-colonial Andean region, the body was exposed without shame and images of women giving birth were frequently represented in paintings and ceramic objects. These contrasting representations from western and Andean cultures depict the female body in very different ways. My project shows that the Andean midwife works with the woman's body, treating it according to age-old customs based on accumulated and received knowledge. Thus, the community's collective memory is continually reenacted through the treatment of the body and the ritual of childbirth.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Stephenson, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Latin American literature|Cultural anthropology|Folklore

COinS