Abstract
Catharsis in the context of healing rituals, psychotherapy and narratives often involves the (re-)experience of pain. Ideally, catharsis in these three domains is a medical homoeopathic discharge and ‘Aufhebung ’ of negative emotions, experiences or ‘personal aspects’. The approach taken in this investigation is transdisciplinary, utilizing research findings in fields such as comparative religion, anthropology, philosophy, art theory, humanistic psychology, ethnology and ethology. The chapter emphasizes the need to re-valuate medical ‘western’ mainstream treatments that attempt to eliminate or reduce pain and further research on ethno-medical, holistic, preventive, humanistic and ‘eastern’ alternative treatments in order to intensify the discourse on such matters.
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Notes
- 1.
Usually attributed to the philosopher Edmund Burke (amongst others).
- 2.
Two different kinds of spelling of the word catharsis are used in this chapter: catharsis and katharsis. While catharsis refers to the more general usage of the word which includes temporary and ancient connotations katharsis plays tribute to its meaning in the ancient Greek and German context, mainly referring to the term katharsis used in the two Aristotelian texts (the Poetics and the Politics).
- 3.
Cf. Hegel (1973, 89, 94, 146, 150, and 476).
- 4.
Southern African indigenous group with various (sub-)tribes belonging to the Bantu ethnic group (Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Thabo Mbeki are prominent Xhosa).
- 5.
The Basotho too belong to the Bantu ethnic group. The majority of Basotho live in the Republic of South Africa (RSA), but Lesotho, a Kingdom landlocked by the RSA, is the ethnically most homogenous country in Africa with a majority of 99.7 Basotho.
- 6.
An investigation comparing such traditional tribal imitation rituals and those of urban gangs would be a particularly interesting project.
- 7.
The reference here is to an informal interview with Ntate L., National University of Lesotho on 26th November 2007 in Roma.
- 8.
I am referring to an informal interview with David Ambrose, National University of Lesotho, 27th November 2007 in Roma.
- 9.
The term realist horror is used by Cynthia Freeland to distinguish realistic horror stories (e.g. slasher movies) which depict possible “monsters” like mass murders, from art horror, whose monsters are not real or are less real, like ghosts or creatures such as created by Frankenstein. For a philosophical inquiry on art horror, compare Carroll (2004).
- 10.
On the other hand, we do not have to forget that it could be argued that in the genre of realist horror, a sublime and unconscious expectation of catharsis and thus pleasure might attract audience despite under-distanced violence as argued elsewhere (Meinhold 2012).
- 11.
Katharsis: cleansing, purgation, equalization, discharge, atonement, expiation.
- 12.
Furthermore, compare also Nürnberger (1999).
- 13.
Compare Nürnberger (1999, 19–20).
- 14.
For a substantial criticism of the application of western medical terminology to indigenous ritual–religious–medical phenomena, see Nürnberger (1999, 14–17).
- 15.
The insertion of the word “symbolically” is done from a “western” perspective. From the indigenous non-western perspective, the ontological status of the demon is real.
- 16.
The distinction Homöotechik-Allotechnik has been previously used by the German philosopher Peter Sloterdijk (Sloterdijk and Hans-Jürgen 2001).
- 17.
- 18.
An example for a homoeopathic catharsis transferred to the physical sphere of the body, a physical homoeopathic catharsis, is the following: Due to bad food, somebody has a stomach-ache; eating the very food once again would cure her/his stomach-ache because the person would vomit all of that food and thus get rid of it; from the medical point of view, this is one possible variety of homoeopathic methods (because the problem is fought with the same “substance” which created it), while an allopathic method would suggest to take a medicine against the ache for example to calm the stomach.
- 19.
The German translation reads: “Denn durch diese innere [internal] Bewegung [movement] sind auch gewissen Menschen zu fesseln, und wir sehen diese unter dem Einfluss der heiligen Lieder, wenn sie Lieder aufnehmen, die die Seele in Weihestimmung versetzen, sich beruhigen [calm down], so als erlangten sie eine Heiligung und Reinigung. Kurz, ganz dassebe machen die mit, die anfällig sind für das Jammern und Schaudern [pity and fear] und überhaupt für den Affekt, und auch all die übrigen, soweit ein jeder von derartigem betroffen wird und in allen entwickelt sich eine geweisse Reinigung, und sie fühlen eine angenehme Erleichterung. Und in gleicher Weise also verschaffen auch die reinigenden Lieder den Menschen ein schadlose Freude [harmless pleasure]”.
- 20.
- 21.
Imitatio prominents can not only be found in discharge but also in recharge imitation of media celebrities….
- 22.
- 23.
I would like to thank Siby George and Pravesh Jung Golay (both IIT Bombay, India), Taylor Hargrave (Assumption University, Thailand) and Chris Dunton (National University, Lesotho) for their insightful and critical–constructive comments on this chapter.
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Meinhold, R. (2016). Pain and Catharsis in Art, Ritual and Therapy. In: George, S., Jung, P. (eds) Cultural Ontology of the Self in Pain. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2601-7_5
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