The Tale of Healer Miguel Perdomo Neira - Medicine, Ideologies, and Power in the Nineteenth-Century Andes

This new book tells the story of Miguel Perdomo Niera, a healer whose amazing cures during his travels through the northern Andes in the 1860s and 1870s evoked both enormous hostility and widespread adulation. A combination of narrative and analysis, the book documents Perdomo's experiences in Colombia and Ecuador and offers valuable insights into the social history of medicine during the Great Transformation in nineteenth-century Latin America. Perdomo's practice of medicine demonstrated a strong religious influence that liberals thought were incompatible with a modern, secular society. Physicians, formally trained medicos, and those who supported scientific modernization were critical of Perdomo's practice of Hispanic medicine, even though it was part of the medical system of the day. The Tale of Healer Miguel Perdomo Neira is a valuable resource for courses in Latin American history and anthropology, and the history of Andean nations.

List of contents

Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Healers and Medical Systems in Andean America Chapter 3 "Science . . . Which Is the Truth" Chapter 4 The Life and Times of Miguel Perdomo Neira Chapter 5 The Emergence of Medical Pluralism Chapter 6 Appendix: Testimonials on the Healings of Miguel Perdomo Neira Chapter 7 Notes Chapter 8 Bibliography Chapter 9 Index

About the author

David Sowell is associate professor of history at Juniata College, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.

Product details

• Authors: David Sowell, Sowell David
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.05.2001
• EAN: 9780842028271
• ISBN: 978-0-8420-2827-1
• Dimensions: 156 mm x 227 mm x 13 mm
• Weight: 336 g
• Series: Latin American Silhouettes
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Historical, Biography: historical, political & military, HISTORY / Social History, Social & cultural history, MEDICAL / History, c 1800 to c 1900, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, History of Medicine, Social and cultural history, Andes, Biography: historical, political and military, Andes mountains