Chapter 8 Ñañuu María Gets Hit by Lightning: People and Their Selves - week 6

These flashcards cover key concepts related to the Mixtec and Dou Donggo cultures, personhood, gender, and culture-bound syndromes as discussed in the lecture.

Coessential animal

A living being considered fundamentally linked to a human, sharing experiences and, at times, consciousness.

Ñañuu María López

An elderly woman who survived being struck by lightning, illustrating Mixtec beliefs about personhood.

Kɨti nuvi

The Mixtec term for the 'animal' linked to a person, believed to share a single soul with its human counterpart.

Vinik

A Maya term that denotes an individual but implies relational identity, translating more closely to 'people of my nation'.

Susto

A culture-bound syndrome in Latin America where a shock causes the soul to leave the body, leading to illness.

Dou Donggo

A group from Indonesia that attributes personhood to their staple food, rice, treating it with respect like a fellow human.

Gender,

An important aspect of identity, determining how individuals see themselves and interact with others, often culturally constructed.

Jurungdu

A substance believed by the Sambia of New Guinea to be essential for boys to become valiant warriors, associated with masculinity.

Sambia initiation rites

Cultural practices that involve boys ingesting semen to gain strength and transition to adulthood.

Culture-bound syndrome

Illnesses that arise from cultural beliefs and affect individuals' perceptions and experiences of health.

Epidemic of culture-bound syndromes

A phenomenon where shared perceptions lead to widespread manifestation of specific cultural illnesses.