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“SUSTO”, MADNESS AND POSSESSION. COLONIAL PRECEDENTS AND CONTEMPORARY EXPRESSIONS IN THE ANDES

“SUSTO”, LOCURA Y POSESIÓN. ANTECEDENTES COLONIALES Y EXPRESIONES CONTEMPORÁNEAS EN LOS ANDES

Gerardo Fernández Juárez

The ‘susto’(scare) illness, present across Latin America with local cultural characteristics, has been traditionally analyzed under the framework of the so-called ‘culture-bound syndromes’ and has been overlooked from the perspective of altered states of consciousness (ASC). This perspective opens the door to its consideration within Amerindian shamanic-like episodes that were conceptualized as demonic possession in the colonial period. This article presents a comparative analysis of colonial documents and contemporary ethnographies of the Andean region.

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Tags: Andes, susto, locura, posesión, demonio, chamanismo

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