Folk Medicine in Southern Appalachia - by Anthony Cavender (Paperback)

About the Book

Melding folklore, medical anthropology, and Appalachian history--and drawing extensively on oral histories and archival sources from the 19th century to the present--Cavender provides a complete tour of ailments and folk treatments in the region, as well as information on medicinal plants, patent medicines, and magico-religious beliefs and practices.

Book Synopsis

In the first comprehensive exploration of the history and practice of folk medicine in the Appalachian region, Anthony Cavender melds folklore, medical anthropology, and Appalachian history and draws extensively on oral histories and archival sources from the nineteenth century to the present. He provides a complete tour of ailments and folk treatments organized by body systems, as well as information on medicinal plants, patent medicines, and magico-religious beliefs and practices. He investigates folk healers and their methods, profiling three living practitioners: an herbalist, a faith healer, and a Native American healer. The book also includes an appendix of botanicals and a glossary of folk medical terms.

Demonstrating the ongoing interplay between mainstream scientific medicine and folk medicine, Cavender challenges the conventional view of southern Appalachia as an exceptional region isolated from outside contact. His thorough and accessible study reveals how Appalachian folk medicine encompasses such diverse and important influences as European and Native American culture and America's changing medical and health-care environment. In doing so, he offers a compelling representation of the cultural history of the region as seen through its health practices.

Review Quotes

A solid work that combines a historical perspective with contemporary models from the social sciences that can be applied to the folk medicine of any region in the country. . . . Cavender has raised the bar for studies of regional folk medicine. As a medical anthropologist, he demonstrates the methodological rigor necessary for this type of study. This book should stand for many years as a model for further inquiries of this nature." --Appalachian Journal

A vivid picture of folk medical practices in southern Appalachia that dispels the notion of the region's residents as geographically and culturally isolated by placing their traditions firmly within the broader context of Euro-American folk medicine." --North Carolina Historical Review

An exceptionally valuable treatise on folk healing in the southern Appalachians. . . . The book will also be critical for anyone interested in the history of scientific medicine in the region. Its importance goes beyond Appalachian studies, however, for Cavender illustrates how vital it is for historians of biomedicine, or of folk medicine, to recognize the influences each had, and continues to have, on the other." --Journal of American History

Cavender offers a distinct regional and historical perspective on the ever-growing literature about folk healing beliefs within their cultural contexts." --Journal of Southern History

The profiles of contemporary herbalists, faith healers, and a Native American healer are fascinating."--Smokies Life

This volume should prove useful to a variety of readers. . . . An excellent resource for college students wishing to learn more about the southern Appalachian region and the people living there." --Journal of Appalachian Studies

Times change, traditional knowledge whether useful or myth becomes lost. Cavender preserves this part of the Appalachian folk heritage." --Blue Ridge Country

Well organized and easy to read. The historical context in each chapter brings the reader to a greater understanding of how history influences contemporary practices. Students of nursing, medicine, and anthropology will benefit from this book." --Nursing History Review

What is surprising is that this book has just now appeared to fill such an obvious gap. What is gratifying is that it is so comprehensive. What is so exciting is how well done it is." --Appalachian History

Will surely be read widely among the academic community interested in regional and medical anthropology study, but it is a book that could just [as] well be enjoyed by someone whose interest in southern Appalachian folk medicine and mythology was sparked by reading Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain, or by a vague memory of a remedy that grandma once used." --Mountain Times