000 02202cam a2200349 4500500
005 20250121085449.0
041 _afre
042 _adc
100 1 0 _aGiancristofaro, Lia
_eauthor
245 0 0 _aSuffering and alternative thought
260 _c2022.
500 _a13
520 _aThis article explores the meaning of “transmutation” (known as mutanza in several local Italian dialects). It is a general category of malaise taking the form of loss of consciousness and convulsions documented in the Abruzzi, and also in a wider area of central Italy, from the second half of the 19th century, and generally referring to a momentary loss of consciousness and to a “change” or reversal of the personality. The malaise takes the form of epilepsy-related convulsions, sometimes with a catatonic state, sometimes accompanied by aggressive behaviors or an oppressed feeling in the chest. This variability in symptoms suggests the existence of a link with psychosomatic phenomena. The article draws on the historical distance (60 years) that this field of study affords to evidence evolution and change in these popular perceptions up to the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Popular representations and recovery from these symptoms today form a temporary, ritual cure process, distinguished by the magical-religious rites that accompany it. This particular symptom profile is a representation of the self, and its predominant attribution to the female gender today reflects a cultural need involving the body and the head which implies adaptation, emotions and reorganizations of the self.
690 _atraditional medicine
690 _arite
690 _abelief
690 _aAbruzzi
690 _aItaly
690 _atraditional societies
690 _aethnology
690 _aepilepsy
690 _atraditional medicine
690 _arite
690 _abelief
690 _aAbruzzi
690 _aItaly
690 _atraditional societies
690 _aethnology
690 _aepilepsy
786 0 _nL'Autre | Volume 22 | 3 | 2022-03-14 | p. 329-339 | 1626-5378
856 4 1 _uhttps://shs.cairn.info/journal-l-autre-2021-3-page-329?lang=en&redirect-ssocas=7080
999 _c507340
_d507340