"Just some spirits": the erosion of spirit possession and the rise of "tension" in South India.

In Kerala, India, spirit possession appears to be declining and changing form: spirits that once had distinct names and personalities are now more anonymous. Psychological terms like 'tension' and 'depression' are increasingly used by patients and in popular media. These shifts suggest an erosion of local context and a rise of universal categories, a hallmark of 'modernity.' Yet the modern itself can become just another context, as when possession language appears in a psychological advice column. The article draws on research among possessed and mentally ill patients and on media depictions of mental health.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Based on research among possessed and mentally ill patients and an examination of depictions of mental health issues in the popular media in the state of Kerala, India, this article examines apparent changes in the incidence and form of spirit possession and the proliferation of psychological idioms such as "tension" and "depression." These changes involve a decline in the incidence of possession as well as the homogenization of the identities of spirits: spirits that were described as having names and personalities a few decades earlier are now presented as more anonymous. The homogenization of spirits and the use of psychological idioms are interpreted as signaling an erosion of context and the ascendance of universal categories, which, according to some theorists, is a characteristic of "modernity." It will also be shown that at the same time the "modern" can appear as simply another context, as when the idiom of possession permeates a psychological advice column in the print media.