Curanderismo: An Emic Theoretical Perspective of Mexican-American

ABSTRACT: In this art ic le curandcrismo, Mexican-American folk medi-cine, is t reated as a systematic body of healing theories rather than a mass cultural phenomenon. Using professional healers as informants for a period of over four years, the authors define and describe curanderismo from the emic theoret ical perspective, not only providing explanations for the ties between the "Mexican Folk Illnesses " previously reported in the literature, but also showing the evolution and future of curanderismo as a holistic health care system. The classical anthropological works on Mexican-American folk medicine, published primarily in the 1960s, have several common features. Clark (1959a), Currier (1966), Kiev (1968), Madsen (1961, 1964), Rubel (1960, 1964, 1966), and Romano (1965) each produced descriptive documents on prominent folk medical practices existing in Hispanic communities in the southwestern United States.2 They, and the vast majorit