Ethnic syndromes as disguise for protest against colonialism: three ethnographic examples.
Journal of trauma & dissociation : the official journal of the International Society for the Study of Dissociation (ISSD) January 1, 2013 Elizabeth Hegeman 10 citations
The paper suggests historical links between cultural domination and dissociative spiritual responses to oppression, using three examples: the Zar cult of Southern Sudan, Puerto Rican syndrome (ataque), and the Balinese trance dance. It argues that spirit possession functions as an escape from unbearable reality, a way to express forbidden needs and desires, a means of adopting an identity beyond traditional authorities, and a reenactment of traumatic experience.