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Part of Folk and Complementary Medicine in Polish Ethnological Investigations / LUD 1995 t.79
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Lud,
DANUTA
Institute
Adam
vol. 79, 1995
PENKALA-GAWĘCKA
of Ethnology
Mickiewicz
and
Cultural
Anthropology
University
Poznań
FOLK AND COMPLEMENTARY
MEDICINE
IN POLISH ETHNOLOGICAL
INVESTIGATIONS
The article is not a complete and detailed account of the history of Polish
investigations of folk medicine. Its aim is to characterize the main aspects of
these investigations, to show how they were changing, to look for and
characterize the sources of modern Polish ethnomedical investigations, and,
finally, to point to some areas of research that need further investigation. Only
some works will be discussed in detail. However, I will not summarize their
contents but, instead I will focus on the specific approaches they employed and
characterize those aspects of research that were later continued and developed.
It is not easy to distinguish between ethnological works pertaining to folk
medicine and sociological, ethnopharmacological
or historic-medical ones. It is
known that at the initial perid of the development of Polish ethnology, doctors
and naturalists wrote many works on folk medicine. Today, complementary
medicine is researched by many disciplines related to ethnology. Ethnomedicine or medical anthropology are in the "border zone" between ethnology and
other social and natural sciences. For this reason, I will also be referring to
works written by authors who are not ethnologists by education but whose
contribution to ethnomedical investigations is considerable.
Polish ethnological investigations focused on folk medicine. Today, however, folk medicine has been transformed - it would be difficult to isolate folk
medicine from a wider set of medical beliefs and practices belonging to official
medical science, a science which I have defined as complementary science.
Early investigations of folk medicine were mainly practical. In the middle of
the 19th century, doctors started to stress the benefits that could be gained if
various "superstitions" pertaining to medicine were investigated and if they
could be eradicated. Many articles were written and published in various
medical and natural journals ("Przegląd Lekarski", "Gazeta Lekarska", "Przegląd Farmaceutyczny", "Przyrodnik"). The articles described the best known
quack doctors and the procedures they used, various beliefs and magic prac-
122
tices, and the therapeutic
use of herbs. A more extensive work entitled
[On medicinal superstitions of the Polish
people] was published by M. Zieleniewski in 1845. M. Zieleniewski exhaustively presented beliefs and medical practices, dividing them into preventive and
therapeutic ones. He made frequent references to written sources which he used
but provided no bibliography of the materials he had collected and on which
his dissertation was based. However, the author did not intend to provide
documentation
on folk medical practices but to describe "medical superstitions", their sources and how to find "ways to eradicate them" because it is
"the people who protect them ( ... ) that suffer most" (Zieleniewski, 1845, p. 13).
M. Zieleniewski also pointed to another benefit that could be gained from the
investigation of "superstitions" 1, namely it would be possible to learn about
the history of medicine. According to the evolutionist assumption, the history
of medicine can help understand "the beginnings of medicine" (ibid., pp. 12 - 13).
This motive was present in many 19th century ethnographic works. The most
extensive work on Polish folk medicine at the time was written by M. Udziela
(1891), a medical doctor. M. Udziela claimed (1891, pp. 5,7) that folk medicine
concealed the "beliefs of our ancestors" which "retained (... ) their original
purity". Udziela's work is well documented. The author based it on published
sources and his own materials. Unlike Zieleniewski, Udziela used the term
"folk medicine" whereas that of "healing superstitions" rarely appeared in the
text. However, Udziela often emphasized the harmfulness of various beliefs,
practices and medications used and, particularly, the work of "quack doctors"
or "folk doctors" (ibid., pp. 43 - 49). He was also skeptical about the belief held
by many doctors and ethnographers that some elements of folk medicine could
be used in scientific medicine 2. However, he also wrote (ibid., p. 6) that, in
addition to "supernatural means", many peoples used some medications, more
or less effective. This aspect is easily found in Polish ethnographic literature
dealing with folk medicine and is popular even today. Some renowned
representatives of the medical world from the end of the 19th century, who
claimed that it was necessary to use the procedures of folk medicine in official
medicine, helped make it widespread. According to K. Moszyński (1967,
p. 176), "W. Niemiłowicz, a former professor of Lvov University, expressed the
opinion of many doctors and theoreticians of medicine in his appeal from 1893
which called for collecting information pertaining to the healing of peasants.
He believed that the information would be useful not only to ethnography but
O przesądach
lekarskich
ludu naszego
1 This is discussed
only marginally. The author's main intention was to "describe the
superstitions of the Polish people pertaining to the medical science; to point, as far as possible, to
their sources and suggest ways to eradicate them" (Zieleniewski, 1845, p. V).
2 M. Udziela (1891, pp. 41- 42) criticized J. Grajnert's
view (1880) on the effectiveness of herbs
used in folk medicine.
123
to <suffering mankind)"3.
Moszyński believed that these hopes, although
illusive, helped create valuable documents on folk medicine. The documents
were created by both medical doctors and naturalists as well as ethnographers.
The motivation behind the interest in folk medicine was different from that
behind the drive to eradicate superstitions. Both aspects fit perfectly the
framework of the positivist science of the 19th century. According to the
evolutionist paradigm, "primitive", "superstitious" beliefs and healing practices
developed into protoscientific ones and then into modern scientific medicine.
This approach is defined in the literature as empiricist or rationalistic (cf.
Good, 1994, p. 29 - 47). One could add that the tendency to look for the
"rational nucleus" in folk medicine is a good example of a phenomenon defined
as the mythologization of folk culture, noticed and described by modern
ethnologists (Robotycki, Węglarz, 1983; Stomma, 1986).
As mentioned above, authors writing in the first half of the 19th century
looked for the distant past in folk medicine and pointed to the pure character
of the latter. This approach was typical of the general position held by 19th
century ethnographers with respect to folk culture, which emphasized the
archaic character, permanence and invariability of elements belonging to folk
culture. Mechanisms of this "basic" mythodologization have been presented in
detail by modern ethnologists (e.g. Stomma, 1986; K. Piątkowski, 1994).
However, it should be pointed out that the authors of works on folk medicine
sometimes noticed manifestations of its dynamism. This can be found in the
works discussed above. Zieleniewski (1845, p. 69) wrote that "many superstitions
found in books were assimilated by the peasants. The books themselves became
the source of new superstitions and helped to popularize the old ones,,4. Udziela
(1891, pp. 23, 41) gives examples of concepts drawn from official medicine and
points to the origin of many folk medications - old herbaria, calendars and
other books, often found in manor houses. The author noticed that this was
a bi-directional process. He quoted the opinion of A. Podbereski (1880): "It is
difficult to distinguish between medications used by the gentry and at manor
houses and those used by peasants because manorial servants would often take
these medications to female quack doctors and from female quack doctors back
to the manors. Then they would again return to the peasants, changed or
unchanged" (M. Udziela, 1891, p. 41). J. Rostafiński (1885, pp. 2-3)
3 According to this appeal "The Polish people, so generously
equipped with the sense of
perception, made many discoveries, useful in their everyday life; discovered many medications and
tested them practically. What is needed now are scientific investigations to collect these treasures,
to critically examine their value and present them in the scientific light" (after: Moszyński, 1967,
p. 176).
4 In the introduction,
however, the author said that he tried to avoid this foreign influence so
as not to ascribe these foreign "superstitions" to the Polish people.
124
says that folk phytotherapy derived from popular literature and it bore no or
almost no resemblance to the original beliefs 5.
There were different reasons for which 19th century ethnographers collected
materials on folk medicine. It remains a fact that interest in folk medicine was
considerable. The works on folk medicine usually were of a documentary type
and even today are a valuable source for ethnomedical investigations. Some
works were on a single village, parish or district, and described a specific illness
and ways of treating it or were devoted to individual methods and therapeutic
medications. The works on therapeutic medications were mainlyon herbal
medications, although there were also many works on breaking spells and
sorcerer's formulae used to charm illnesses away. Descriptions of practices used
by quack doctors are an interesting and valuable source of information. Works
on folk medicine were published in such journals as "Lud", "Wisła", "Zbiór
Wiadomości do Antropologii Krajowej", "Materiały Antropologiczno-Archeologiczne i Etnograficzne" as well as in the medical and natural journals
mentioned above and in popular weeklies and monthlies (e.g. "Tygodnik
Ilustrowany", "Przyjaciel Ludu", "Wędrowiec") and in dailies. Materials on
folk medicine can also be found in more general ethnographic works, e.g.
L. Gołębiowski's Lud polski. Jego zwyczaje, zabobony, wierzenia [The Polish
people. Its customs, superstitions, beliefs] (1830), R. W. Berwiński's Studia
o gusłach, czarach, zabobonach i przesądach leczniczych [The study of witchcraft, magic, superstitious practices and therapeutic superstitions] (1862) and in
Oskar Kolberg's Dzieła wszystkie [O. Kolberg's Collected Works]. Information about folk medicine can also be found in some monographs on regions
and villages (e.g. M. Federowski, 1888; S. Udziela, 1902). There were very few
works entirely devoted to folk medicine. Apart from the works by Zieleniewski
and M. Udziela (the latter's work can be considered the first synthetic
monograph on folk medicine), mention must be made of a valuable collection
of articles on folk medicine written by J. Talko-Hryncewicz Zarysy lecznictwa
ludowego na Rusi Południowej
[An outline of folk medicine in Southern
Ruthenia] (1893)6 and J. Rostafiński Zielnik czarodziejski, tj. zbiór przesądów
o roślinach [A magic herbarium, i.e. a collection of superstitions about plants]
(1885), used even today by Polish ethnopharmacologists
as a valuable source.
Materials for works on folk medicine were collected in different regions of
5 J. Burszta (1967, p. 400) writes that "ethnographic
field data suggest that the essence of folk
practices and superstitions connected with specific herbs and plants used in therapy is not much
different from those described by J. Rostafiński. This undoubtedly indicates the influence of this
literature on folk therapy or, perhaps, that authors of this literature had drawn directly from
peasant lore.
6 This is an extensive, well documented
work in which Talko-Hryncewicz used ethnographic
literature as well as such sources as various notes in magazines and calendars and information
collected by doctors, apothecaries, and village priests.
125
Poland. Most of them, however, were collected in Galicia and eastern parts of
Poland.
The arrangement of information in the books adopted by the authors is
very interesting. They usually start from illnesses, ordered more or less
according to the medical classifications used at the time. Descriptions of
illnesses are accompanied by descriptions of medications and therapeutic
methods that should be used to heal the illnesses. Zieleniewski (1845) used
a simple division, also borrowed from the medical science, into beliefs and
practices (in his terminology - "superstitions") connected with health and
treatment of illnesses. The topics that did not fit the first two chapters were
discussed in the third chapter (e.g. "plague", customs related to death). The
arrangement of information in M. Udziela's work (1891) is more or less typical
of many works on folk medicine. The author distinguishes illnesses of the brain,
nerves and senses, illness of the respiratory organ, illnesses of the digestive,
urinary and sexual organs, skin illnesses, "surgical illnesses" and illnesses of the
motorial system. There are also such chapters as: pregnancy, birth, puerperium; adolescence and pediatric diseases; death, the corpse and funerals.
Because of this classification, there are unavoidable problems with classifying
individual illnesses, particularly those that do not have their counterparts (or
precise counterparts) in medical nosology. For example, Udziela (1891, pp.
158- 159, 171, 178 - 187, 226 - 234) classified such ailments as "gripes" (the
feeling of suffocation caused by a nightmare), "paints in bones", ague (fever 7) as
"illness of the digestive, urinary and sexual organs", and erysipelas and pimples
as "surgical ailments and ailments of organs of movement". It should be added
that the introductory part of the work, preceding the discussion of the illnesses,
includes chapters on beliefs about the causes of illnesses, general methods of
their treatment and about "folk doctors".
At this point it will suffice to note the permanence of some aspects of
research which appeared and were developed in Polish investigations of the
folk medicine of the 19th and the beginnings of the 20th century.
In the interwar period interest in folk medicine decreased considerably. This
was due to the weakening of the positivist belief in the profits that official
medicine could derive from studies of folk medicine. Some articles appeared in
such popular magazines as "Orli Lot", "Kuryer Literacko-Naukowy",
in
regional publications such as "Ziemia Nadnotecka" ar "Zaranie Śląskie".
However, there were very few serious works. Mention can be made of A.
Fischer's Rośliny w wierzeniach i obrzędach Ludu poLskiego [Plants in the beliefs
and customs of the Polish folk] (1929), S. Udziela's Rośliny w wierzeniach ludu
7
According to M. Udziela (1891, p. 178), the name "fever" entails maDy illnesses with shivers.
126
[Plants in the beliefs of Cracovians] (1931) and J. W. Szulczeww mianownictwie,
przesądach i lecznictwie ludu wielkopolskiego
[Plants in the designation, beliefs and treatment of the inhabitants of
Wielkopolska] (1932). Some information on folk medicine can be found in
manuals on Polish ethnography (Fischer, 1926; Poniatowski, 1932). H. Biegeleisen's Lecznictwo ludu polskiego [The medical care of the Polish folk] (1929)
was an attempt at a synthetic analysis. Despite the author's ambitious aim, the
book, presenting an extensive materialon
Poland and other European
countries, is not a reliable source (it lacks satisfactory documentation) and the
genetic arguments are not convincing. An index prepared by J. Obrębski (1931)
helps locate the data, freely scattered all over the text.
The greatest contribution to the investigations of folk medicine was made
by K. Moszyński (t 963, 1st edition in 1939). An extensive chapter on folk
medicine in the book entitled Kultura ludowa Słowian [Folk culture of Slavs] is
an excellent source of information. It synthesizes materials on the Slavs and,
moreover, includes many more general, interesting ideas on the features of folk
medicine. Moszyński (1963, pp. 175 - 176) emphasized that folk medicine was
a branch of culture which was particularly hard to classify. It could not be
included in the "technical culture" because it presented a "very close combination of technical and magic, and sometimes cult, elements", which could
not be separated. According to the author, what mattered was not only the
form of the therapeutic procedure but, first of all, its essence, its contents, which
were not taken into account by most sources.
I have already mentioned the opinion made by Moszyński on the
illusiveness of hopes to find "treasures" in folk medicine which could be used by
scientific medicine. In his opinion, such cases are rare. Moszyński describes the
mythologization (he does not use this word) of folk medicine: "even university
professors claim that folk medicine is the <treasure of medical knowledge>
although practically it is an enormous chaotic bric-a-brac in which valuable
things occupy relatively little space" (Moszyński, ibid., p. 232). However,
Moszyński still maintains the 19th century division of therapeutic procedures
into rational and irrational, although he notices that what has no value for
scientific medicine is very valuable for people.
In Moszyński's book medicine was discussed from the standpoint of folk
medicine. As there were problems with classificatin, this was a better solution
than trying to make folk medicine a part of "technical culture". The material is
organized into chapters on illnesses and their names, causes of illnesses (these
were divided by Moszyński into supernatural and natural), prevention and
therapy, with a distinction between therapeutic procedures and medications.
krakowskiego
ski's Rośliny
The investigations of folk medicine are poorly represented in Polish
ethnographic literature written after 1945. The majority of works are con-
127
tinuations of the traditional ethnographic approach to folk medicine. Such
periodicals as "Rocznik Muzeum Etnograficznego w Krakowie", "Opolski
Rocznik Muzealny", "Łódzkie Studia Etnograficzne" carried articles on folk
medicine practiced in some region, district or town (e.g. Jastrzębski, 1961;
Hajówna, 1966; Jakubowska, 1966; Olszowy, Tylkowa, 1968; Pawłowska,
1972; Szychowska-Boebel,
1978; Dłużewska, 1983). Other texts described
selected therapeutic techniques, for example, bleeding people (Kisielewska,
1966), clay treatment (Czuba la, 1984) or discussed a single illness and its
treatment (Nowakowski, 1979). The latter problem was also studied in more
recent articles by A. Paluch and Z. Libera. One of them deals with plica
(Libera, Paluch, 1988), another with consumption (Paluch, 1994). Reasults of
studies of medicinal plants are found in M. Henslowa (1962; 1972; 1976). A.
Paluch also made a great contribution to the investigations of plants used in
folk medicine (Paluch, 1984; 1989; Libera, Paluch, 1993). Some information
about folk medicine can be found in various regional monographs (or
monographs on individual villages). In Kultura ludowa Wielkopolski [The
folk culture of Wielkopolska], J. Burszta (1967) treated folk medicine very
extensively. A similar treatment of folk medicine can be found in D.
Tylkowa's monograph of the folk culture of the Silesian Beskidy Mountains
and Sącz Beskidy Mountains (Tylkowa, 1984; 1985). In 1970s and 1980s
regional monographs on folk medicine were published by B. Szychowska-Boebel, Lecznictwo ludowe na Kujawach [Folk medicine in Kujawy]
(1972) and D. Tylkowa, Medycyna ludowa w kulturze wsi Karpat Polskich
[Folk medicine in the culture of villages in the Polish Carpathian MountainsJ (1989). These two monographs are based on reliable ethnographic
documents and are very valuable source materials. All three books merit
a detailed discussion.
The monograph on folk medicine in Wielkopolska written by J. Burszta is
very well documented. J. Burszta presented the historical sources of Polish folk
medicine, pointing to the strong influence of popular literature of the 16th, 17th
and 18th centuries. This influence was even intensified in the 19th century with
the publication of various works written specifically for peasants. According to
1. Burszta (1967, p. 401) in folk medicine "it is not possible to (oO.) separate
what was adopted from what was shaped by life experience of many generation
inhabiting a given village". The author discusses etiological views on folk
medicine (divided into cosmic, natural and demonological-magic
ones, supplemented by the author with naturalistic ones); magic in folk medicine, home
medicine (herbs and other medications), "healers" or "folk doctors". The
conclusion is entitled "From folk to modern medicine". The author presented
the characteristic features of folk doctors and their practices, including data on
quack doctors residing in towns whose influence was felt in villages. Consequently, he did not artificially distinguish between what is "rural" or "folk"
and what is "urban". In sections on prevention and therapy the author
128
discussed "superstitious and magical practices" and those which are "more or
less rational and real" (ibid., p. 412). However, the author clearly stated that those
"superstitious and magic procedures" are considered superstitious and magic
procedures from our modern point of view8. Writing about changes in folk
medicine Burszta points to its former autonomy. He maintains that today folk
medicine has become a cultural relic (ibid., p. 430). Elsewhere, however, when
writing about folk etiologies, Burszta says that they are a complex "in which old
knowledge, which is rapidly diminishing, and elements of modern knowledge can
be detected" (ibid., p. 406). This remark is true not only with respect to etiology.
One can say that folk medicine has undergone a transformation.
The monograph on the folk medicine in Kujawy by B. Szychowska-Boebel
is written very traditionally. Etiological beliefs, prevention, therapeutic procedures and means are not discussed in separate chapters but accompany the
discussion of individual illnesses. Illnesses were classified into groups, according to a slightly simplified medical system. This presentation is characteristic
of former ethnomedical works discussed above. Obviously, there are some
problems with the classification of some illnesses. For example, SzychowskaBoebel treats plica as a skin disease (cf. the article by Libera and Paluch, 1988)
and a number of such different illnesses as rheumatism, anaemia, neoplasms,
overstrain are under the category of "other". One chapter is devoted to quack
doctors. In accordance with 19th century tradition, Szychowska-Boebel divides
therapeutic means and methods into rational and irrational (although she
admits that it is difficult to separate them), without specifying the reasons for
this division. Although, as declared in the introduction, one of the aims was to
grasp modern changes in folk medicine, the monograph is rather focused on
the reproduction of traditional beliefs and practices. The author's remarks on
earlier changes, adoption of the views of official medicine by folk medicine, and
the popularization of the views and advice of Reverend Kneipp in villages
(Szychowska- Boebel, 1972, pp. 14 - 15) are all worthy of note.
D. Tylkowa's monograph on folk medicine in the region of the Polish
Carpathian Mountains is characterized by a slightly modified traditional
approach. There are chapters on etiology and diagnostics, forms of medical
care, therapeutic means, classification of illnesses and therapeutic procedures.
Methods of treatment are discussed twice - first with reference to specific
diseases and then in a chapter on illnesses. Illnesses are grouped according to
a very simplified medical classification and generally divided into "pediatric
diseases" and "adult diseases" (although many diseases are typical of both age
groups). Like Burszta and Szychowska-Boebel, Tylkowa also had problems
8 J. Burszta (1967, p. 429) writes that folk medicine is characterizcd
by a "peculiar way of
thinking (... ), in which all means are rational and purposeful. A considerablc part of these means
become irrational only from the perspective of the modern, real, and rational view of the world".
129
with classifying individual illnesses. For example, plica-rheumatism is not listed
at all (it is discussed in the chapter on therapeutic means). The distinction
between rational and irrational beliefs (etiology, knowledge about therapeutic
means) and medical practices is present in all the chapters. According to the
author, "rational" are means of plant, animal or mineralorigin and "mechanical
procedures", such as, for example, the application of cupping glasses (Tylkowa,
1989, p. 84), whereas magic and religious practices and means are irrational9.
Again, the reason for such a division is not given. One can only suppose that it is
made from the point of view of medical science. If this is true, it seems absurd to
define the belief that a common cold is the cause of liver diseases part of
a "rational" etiology (ibid., p. 25) and rubbing cream onto pimples part of
"rational" therapeutic procedures (ibid., p. 89). Elsewhere (ibid., p. 80) the author
writes about rational therapeutic procedures, "folk ones or adopted from official
medicine". Does she mean a "common sense" point of view? Tylkowa (ibid., pp.
105 - 106) also mentions the problem of the "rational nucleus" of folk medicine,
finding it mainly in herbs or in such procedures as application of cupping glasses
or leeches. Such a position is a logical consequence of identifying rational and
irrational therapeutic practices and means. The last chapter, devoted to modern
changes in folk medicine in the area of the Polish Carpathian Mountains,
describes the "modernization processes" that influence the change of proportion
in the knowledge of folk medicine "between what is rational and what is
irrational in favour ofknowledge that can be scientifically proved". On the other
hand, the author notices that "many old superstitions and practices of folk
medicine" have still been preserved (ibid., pp. 101, 103). Thus, what is
'"traditional" is in opposition to what is "modern". There is no analysis of this
situation which could show how the "new" is combined with the "old".
I will now address some aspects dealt with in the monographs discussed
above. These aspects are very common in modern Polish ethnomedical
literature.
The division into "rational" and "irrational" beliefs and practices of folk
medicine, adopted from positivistically oriented ethnography of the 19th
century, is still very widespread. Some authors signal this division in the
introduction. Sometimes, they make a reservation that it is not easy to make
such a division because of the "complex combination of rational and irrational
practices" 10. Others make this distinction when discussing individual etiologi9 Thc author
(Tylkowa, 1989, p. 79) says that she realizes that identification of magic
procedurcs is "considcrably artificial". She writes: "Magic acts accompanied most folk therapeutic
procedures, i.c. those which could be rationally justified". Consequently, she identifies magic
procedure with irrational ones and the rest with rational ones.
10 This opinion is voiced by, for example, J. Jastrzębski (1961, p. 135), who makes a reference
to Moszyński. It is intercsting that Jastrzębski noticcd that "enlightened medicine" changed its
views about thc cffcctiveness of individual folk medications and practices. He also added that
9 -
Lud l. LXXIX
130
cal beliefs or therapeutic procedures. Generally, they do not identify the
reasons for such a distinction. One could think that reference to the views of
official medicine is a concealed assumption. However, its paradigm undergoes
constant changes and, secondly, the authors' opinions are formulated from the
"common sense" point of view. In modern ethnology the subjective approach,
which generally undermines any sense of such a division, is dominant. In this
situation, it is difficult to speak only about culturally relativized "rationality".
Any belief about an illness and its treatment can be considered rational if,
according to the system of knowledge held by a given group, behaviour which
is in harmony with these beliefs helps obtain desired results. It is not important
how these beliefs are evaluated from the point of view of other systems of
knowledgell. This was expressed in slightly different words by B. Good, an
eminent American medical anthropologist (1994, p. 29): "what strays from
rationality, assumed from the biomedical perspective, is not the result of
ignorance or <superstitions) but is rooted in the culture, system of beliefs and
practices which have their own <cultural logic) and perform adaptation
functions". Such an approach can hardly find its place in Polish ethnomedical
investigations. The "rationalistic" tradition is still dominant. It is significant
that J. Burszta's remarks on that problem, quoted above, were ignored by
authors of later works. The article by Z. Libera and A. Paluch (1988, p. 151) is
a noteworthy exception. The authors criticize the opposition of rational and
irrational elements in folk medicine 12 (cr. also Libera, 1995, pp. 8 - 11). Perhaps
the theoretical and methodological works of such authors as M. Buchawski
and W. Burszta, which present and promote the "subjective reconstruction of
culture" (e.g. Buchawski, Burszta, 1992), will help change this state of affairs.
If we adopt the above understanding of "rationality", the question whether
or not folk medicine contains a "rational nucleus", becomes pointless. l have
already mentioned that this problem and attempts at looking for the
medications and methods of folk medicine which could become part of official
medicine were of particular interest to 19th century medical doctors and
ethnographers (often the two professions were combined) and later could be
traced in ethnomedical investigations. Some scholars (e.g. Moszyński) were
skeptical about the value of folk medicine and the role it might play in official
medicine. Others say that the latter benefited a lot from the former. For
example, A. Paluch (1979, pp. 87 - 88) wrote: "Often some indications, recipes,
folk therapeutic methods are part of magic formulae, spells, gestures, rituals
"There are also facts that a procedure which an ethnographer would consider irrational, would not
be considered entirely irrational by a doctor". In other words, the view of an ethnographer is not
identical with the medical point of view.
II
I have written about it elsewhere (e.g. Penkala-Gawęcka,
1983, p. 28; 1991, p. 46).
12 Today, the relative character
of the concepts "rational-irrational"
with reference to folk
medicine, is pointed out by medical sociologists (cr. W. Piątkowski, 1994).
131
and yet often contain the rational nucleus and are endowed with real activity.
And they seem to be irrational only because of the (magic framework)". This
position was severely criticized by L. Stomma (1986, pp. 193 -195) who called it
"the myth of folk medicine" and said that majority of folk practices and
therapeutic means had no value for scientific medicine and that in folk
medicine there was no place for experiments. Stomma wrote that "This does
not mean that there cannot be (in folk medicine) recipes, more or less correct
from the point of view of scientific medical knowledge. But this is very
accidental (ibid., p. 195). Paluch and others (e.g. Tylkowa) who spoke positively
on the problem of the "rational nucleus" of folk medicine, refer directly or
indirectly to the biomedical perspective. Also Stomma adopte this point of
view, although his conclusions are entirely different. In my opinin, ethnologists
should avoid judgements concerning the "rationality" of folk medicine, which is
a position I tried to prove when I discussed the concept of rationality 13.
Ethnographers often use the perspective of medical science when they try to
classify the illnesses identified by folk knowledge. Usually, this classification is
very simplified compared to medical nosology. But even the division is very
general, a scholar encounters problems, particularly in the case of illnesses
which are defined in the literature as "folk illnesses" or as "culture-bound
syndromes", that is such ailments (or their syndromes) which do not have
counterparts or have only approximate counterparts in biomedical classification 14. In Polish folk medical knowledge these would include, for
example, overstrain, plica and, as one can judge from an interesting study by
A. Paluch (1994), consumption. When I discussed the monographs on folk
medicine, I pointed out to problems that ethnographers face when they want to
classify such ailments or illnesses into a system. It seems that a scholar should
always provide detailed documentation on a given concept that would describe
some ailments or, for that matter, avoid its automatic identification with
a biomedical illness only on the basis of a similar name. The sense and meaning
of the illnesses which clearly appear to us as "folk" illnesses and those which
appear to be counterparts of medical illnesses should be determined (in
accordance with the principles of humanistic interpretation, cf. Buchawski,
Burszta, 1992).
Presentation of changes occurring in folk medicine is another problem that
is encountered when reading ethnographic works on folk medicine. Most often
I J Obviously,
these "rational" elements (from the point of view of biomedicine) in folk
medicine can be looked for, or, in other words, the effectiveness of individual medications and
methods can be tested by representatives of medicine and other natural sciences, for example,
pharmacology. They can be assisted by, for example, ethnopharrnacology (cr. Penkala-Gawęcka,
1994).
14 There is extensive literature
in world anthropology on this problem (e.g. Simons, Hughes,
1985. Cf. also Penkala-Gawęcka, in print).
132
this problem is treated very generally, as a necessary addition to the basic part
dealing with the reconstruction of the "traditional folk medicine". This is
a continuation of the 19th century approach to folk culture, one which never
changes and always retains the old meanings. The works usually present
a picture of an artificially isolated folk medicine in opposition to the "processes
of changes", described very schematically. What is usually shown is the
"introduction" of modern medicine (institutions, doctors, nurses) into villages
and the restrictions imposed on folk medicine by these "modernization
influence". Gradually, folk medicine becomes a relic. However, many beliefs
and practices of folk medicine have been preserved and for this reason this is
a domain of culture which changes more slowly than others. These works lack
more elaborate analysis of the transformations of folk medicine; it is not
presented "in the process of change". It is interesting that sometimes authors
detect the older influence, that of the manor, the church, or popular literature,
that transformed folk medicine in the course of its history, but omit, or are not
interested in how new elements of various origin penetrate folk medicine J 5.
And this influence and the transformations that follow it are more intensified
than in the past. Perhaps because of the speed and scope of change many
scholars are willing to treat folk medicine as a relic, more or less consciously
acknowledging that what is being born nowadays is some new quality which
cannot be called folk medicine. But irrespective of whether we adopt this
position or we acknowledge that it is still folk medicine, continually changing
but preserving many of its features, we should examine it as it is, without
artificially isolating what we consider "traditional".
I would like to suggest the concept of "complementary medicine", understood very broadly, to be used with reference to all forms of beliefs and
therapeutic procedures which exist outside official medicine (cf. PenkalaGawęcka, 1991; 1993). From among many concepts used in Polish popular
literature and world ethnomedical literature (such as alternative medicine,
unconventional medicine, unorthodox medicine, natural medicine) 16, I chose
the concept of "complementary medicine" to emphasize that it is treated (by
IS For example,
D. Tylkowa (1989, p. 61) writes in her monograph about hydrotherapy
promoted by Rev. S. Kneipp, which became widespread at the end of the 19th century in villages of
the Silesian Beskidy Mountains. On the other hand, in a chapter on modern changes of folk
medicine she does not mention transformations inOuenced by the mass media, various clements of
unconventional medicine brought from towns, etc. The author only notices "on the one hand the
transformations, and on the other - the tradition rooted in the inhabitants of the villages
investigated" (ibid., p. 106).
16 I analyzed
these concepts in detail in an article on the ethnological perspective in
investigations of complementary medicine (Penkala-Gawęcka, 1993). It should be rcmembered that
in Third World countries, unlike in Europe and the United States of America, only western
medicine can have a complementary character, particularly where there arc "great medical
systems" with a long tradition.
133
subjects of medical activities) as a supplement and not an alternative to official
medicine 17. Usual1y this concept, like other, similar ones, is used with reference
to such popular practices as homeopathy, bioenergopathy,
acupuncture,
acupressure, aromatherapy, reiki, magnetotheraphy and many others. I think,
however, that folk medicine fits the framework of complementary medicine;
together with the practices mentioned above it makes up a set of proposals
complementing official medicine 18. This view is shared by W. Piątkowski,
a medical sociologists, who has been dealing with this problem for many years
and who wrote many interesting articles on this sucject (1981; 1984; 1990; 1994
and others). In his pioneer book, Spotkania z inną medycyną [Meetings with
a different medicine] (1990), in the section on "non-medical therapeutics" the
author identifies autotherapy, folk medicine and "therapeutic practices of
healers". His classification is based on the type of practices and therapists. In
this approach, however, folk medicine is limited to the practices of specialists - different folk therapists. But medicine practiced at home or among
neighbours constitutes its important part. Likewise, the therapeutic activity of
healers was separated from often analogous practices performed individually
by nonspecialists (acupressure or dowsing). Autotherapy, on the other hand, is
present in both types of complementary medicine. Likewise, different specialists
can be found both in folk medicine and "unconventional practices".
The use of the term "folk medicine" was opposed by W. Piątkowski. In his
works he advocated that the term "medicine" be used only with reference to
"scientific", empirical and experimental, medicine (W. Piątkowski, 1990, pp.
15-16 and other works)19. He proposes to use the term "non-medical
therapeutics" which, however, seems awkward. L. Stomma, a representative of
ethnographers, questions the use of the term "folk medicine". In his opinion,
"the choice of recipes in <folk medicine> is based on <Mendeleyev's periodic
table of elements> - on a myth and not on a rational analysis of reactions and
consequences" (Stomma, 1986, p. 195). These remarks are related to the
criticism of views on the "rational nucleus" of folk medicine. I will not quote
17 Some scholars treat this "complementary"
character differently. For example, W. Piątkowski (1990, p. 115), a sociologist, writes that perhaps in the future "there will be a need to introduce
a new concept <complementary medicine> in place of the concept of <non-medical medicine)".
This, however, requires deep changes in the system of medical care. What is important is to fully
recognize the complementary character of unconventional medicine by representatives of official
medicine.
18 It is very difficult to find a general name for the unconventional
practices mentioned above.
W. Piątkowski (1990, pp. 22 - 23) describes them as "therapeutic practices of healers". But they also
include such autothcrapeutic procedures as, for example, acupressure, tai-chi, hatha-yoga.
19 The author
notices that the scientific character of medicine differs, that there is
arbitrariness in determining what "is medicine (science) and what is not medicine" (W. Piątkowski,
1990, p. 16). Onc could add that today there is greater awareness, at least in medical anthropology,
of cultural conditions of so-called biomedicine, formally treated as objective and unquestionable.
134
here detailed arguments in favour of the term "medicine" 20. In a nutshell,
opponents look at folk or complementary medicine from the perspective of
official medicine which tries to set a clear border separating it from such
therapeutic practices (and knowledge) which do not meet the "scientific"
criteria. According to this reasoning, if folk medicine does not meet these
criteria, it is not medicine. In my opinion, however, it is simply not scientific
medicine. Therapeutic folk (and, more broadly - complementary) practices
differ because they are based on different systems of knowledge. But this is not
a reason to abandon the prevailing linguistic custom 21 .
There are also some controversies pertaining to folk medicine itself. Many
scholars pointed out close relations between folk medicine and magic, religion,
and myth (e.g. Moszyński, 1967, p. 22. Also A. Paluch often refers to Moszyński
in his works). Far reaching conclusions were drawn from this fact by L.
Stomma. It seems that his use of "inverted commas" with reference to folk
medicine questions the validity of the term itself, i.e. folk medicine is not
medicine but some therapeutics. As he put it "<folk medicine) is summa
summarum a set of combinations, determined by <Mendeleyev's periodic table),
of elements of opposition and mediation". This restriction is opposed by Z.
Libera and A. Paluch (1988, pp. 152 -153). They say that myth, although very
important, does not exhaust the domain of folk medicine. The authors
generally oppose the reductionism of structuralism because "At the level of
<Mendeleyev's periodic tables) there is no medicine, religion, magic or art;
there is only a set of <elements) which organize all kinds of human activity
within the framework of a given culture, in accordance with the same
assumptions". And further on the argue "Medicine is an integral part of
a cosmological system. It functions as one of the tools to maintain order,
cohesion, social and cosmic continuity, sustains the harmony in relations
between man and his environment ( ... ) and' therefore all medical problems
have a mythical, magic, religious, moral, etc. nature" (ibid., p. 153). Hence, when
dealing with medicine, one should see it in a wider cultural perspective; this,
however, does not stop us from making it a separate discipline. I agree with this
opinion. I would like to add that folk medicine (or more broadly - complementary medicine), understood as a system of knowledge being part of the
general vision of the world/cosmos (cf. Stomma, 1986, p. 193), regulates
a specific, separate type of social practice22.
20 I have presented them in another articles (1993). It is interesting that today some doctors
stress the lack of borders between scientific and complementary medicine, although the position
which puts the latter in opposition to the former is still dominant.
21 A similar discussion was held in anthropology
on the validity of such terms as "primary
law" or "economics of primary societies". Scholars are of the opinion that such concepts as "law"
and "economics" can be referred to different cultures if meanings relativized to the Euro-American
cultural circle are not substituted for them.
22 This practice is organized
around the "supreme value", i.e. health. Health is a culturally
135
The structural approach, used for the first time with reference to ethnomedical problems by L. Stomma (1986), contributed much to Polish investigations of folk medicine. It helped look differently at problems treated in the
literature in a routine manner, duplicating the old, 19th century schema. The
categories of opposition and mediation, used by Stomma with reference to
beliefs about illnesses, recipes, means and methods of folk medicine, were
adopted by scholars who did not fully accept the structural approach.
A. Paluch with Z. Libera (1988), expressing their reservations, analyzed plica
semiotically and structurally - Plica polonica. In an article on consumption
(1994, p. 199) A. Paluch spoke very clearly about the restrictions of the
structural-semiotic orientation, using, however, modified concepts to analyze
this illness. The use of structural categories can be found in more recent articles
on the folk medicine of individual regions (e.g. Ruszel, 1993).
Folk medicine and complementary medicine are also investigated by
representatives of other branches of science. Results of their investigation are
often very valuable to ethnologists dealing with folk medicine. Much has been
contributed to the studies of complementary medicine by sociologists of
medicine, particularly
M. Sokołowska (1980a; 1980b; 1986; 1987) and
W. Piątkowski (1981; 1984; 1990; 1993; 1994). A psychologists' report presenting the results of investigations of healers (Mellibruda et al., 1984) is,
unfortunately, an exception. Ethnology can profit much from investigations
conducted by historians of medicine. Works by S. Szpilczyński (1956) and
popular articles by Z. Kuchowicz (1954) are well known. Currently, interesting
studies are conducted by B. Płonka-Syroka (1994), A. Syroka and J. Jeszke
(1986) who deal with folk medicine in Wielkopolska. Ethnopharmacological
and ethnopharmaceutical studies were developed after the war by J. Muszyński
(1956). Presently, they are conducted by the Pracownia Historii Nauk o Leku
[Department of the History of Sciences about Medications] at the Institute of
the History of Science, Education and Technology of the Polish Academy of
Sciences (established in 1989 and earlier known as the Department of the
History of Pharmacy). Ethnopharmaceutical
investigations are understood as
a description of traditional phytotherapy and evaluation of the effectiveness of
individual floral ingredients from the point of view of modern pharmaceutical
knowledge (Kuźnicka, ed., 1986, p. 16). The department invites cooperation of
ethnologists and representatives of other humanistic disciplines; this cooperation has already resulted in interesting articles (Kuźnicka, ed., 1986; 1989;
1993). In this case, interdisciplinary work is focused on the examination of the
traditional medications used in folk medicine. Complex, interdisciplinary
relativized category, just like an illness. One should remember that sometimes any action
attempted to accomplish this value (health) is not undertaken. This happens when other values, e.g.
honour or respects of ancestors, are put before it (cr. Penkala-Gawęcka,
1983, pp. 26 - 28).
136
studies of complementary
medicine are also needed. Ethnomedical investigations of complementary
medicine have just started and cooperation,
particularly with sociologists of medicine, is very useful for us.
In this short article I have discussed only some problems; their choice was
very subjective23. I have tried to show the continuity of some motives and
formulations in Polish investigations of folk medicine. The traditional approach is still dominant, yet new works contributed a structural approach
which gives us a tool useful in many ethnomedical analyses 24. Complementary medicine is a new research area which ethnology should not avoid.
Studies of complementary medicine perfectly fit the trend of "modern anthropology".
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