the woman who didn't become a shaman

When a Taiwanese village woman began to display shamanistic behavior, her neighbors had to decide whether she was being called by a god to speak for him, possessed by a ghost, exploited by her husband, or crazy. Although she had many of the attributes of a successful tang-ki, or shaman, she was fina...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American ethnologist 1990-08, Vol.17 (3), p.419-430
Main Author: WOLF, MARGERY
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Children
Communities
Diseases
Ethnology
Faith healing
Mothers
Neighborhoods
Religion
Sexes
Shamanism
Shamans
Spirit mediums
Taiwan
Villages
Women
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Summary:When a Taiwanese village woman began to display shamanistic behavior, her neighbors had to decide whether she was being called by a god to speak for him, possessed by a ghost, exploited by her husband, or crazy. Although she had many of the attributes of a successful tang-ki, or shaman, she was finally labeled crazy because of her marginal status in the community and in the male ideology. [China, Taiwan, gender, shamans, self]
ISSN:0094-0496
1548-1425
DOI:10.1525/ae.1990.17.3.02a00010