Healing Roots: Anthropology in Life and Medicine (Epistemologies of Healing, 15)

Umhlonyane, also known as Artemisia afra, is one of the oldest and best-documented indigenous medicines in South Africa. This bush, which grows wild throughout the sub-Saharan region, smells and tastes like “medicine,” thus easily making its way into people’s lives and becoming the choice of everyday healing for Xhosa healer-diviners and Rastafarian herbalists. This “natural” remedy has recently sparked curiosity as scientists search for new molecules against a tuberculosis pandemic while hoping to recognize indigenous medicine. Laplante follows umhlonyane on its trails and trials of becoming a biopharmaceutical — from the “open air” to controlled environments — learning from the plant and from the people who use it with hopes in healing.

• | Author: Julie Laplante
• | Publisher: Berghahn Books
• | Publication Date: Jul 13, 2018
• | Number of Pages: 302 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback
• | ISBN-10: 1789200598
• | ISBN-13: 9781789200591