Published 2017-05-04
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Abstract
I kølvandet på 20 års borgerkrig i det nordlige Uganda fulgte en bølge af traumer, onde ånder og vold, som fortsat forpester livet og fordrer handling. Brutaliteten og de mange ubegravede lig som krigen efterlod, opleves af mange som årsag til forskellige former for åndelig og social kontaminering. I en biomedicinsk forståelse beskrives forstyrrelserne som Post Traumatisk Stress Syndrom (PTSD), hos de traditionelle behandlere (ajwaki) kaldes fænomenerne cen, og i kirkerne betragtes problemerne som djævlens værk. Der er bred enighed mellem de forskellige tilgange om, at noget er galt, og folk lider herunder, men de varierende begrebsliggørelser af problemerne peger mod forskellige handlemuligheder. Igennem en fyldig skildring af en enkelt case analyserer vi disse problemer og behandlingsformer med begreber om social smitte, kontaminering, og konfigurationer. Vi argumenterer med begrebet konfiguration for, at problemer med traumer og ånder både konstitueres af krigens vold og de forskelligartede, men begrænsede behandlingsmuligheder, som er tilgængelig i det nordlige Uganda i dag.
Trauma and spirits after war in Uganda: Configurations of violence and treatment
In the aftermath of 20 years of civil war in northern Uganda lives in the Acholi-region are still polluted by trauma, evil spirits and violence. The brutality and the many unburied bodies left behind by the war are experienced by many as the reason for a variety of forms of social and spiritual pollution. These maladies are understood as PTSD in biomedical terms, as the spirit possession cen by local, traditional healers and as the work of the devil within the many churches. There is a broader agreement between these different positions that something is wrong and that families and individuals are suffering, but the variety of conceptualizations of the problems point towards different paths of action. In presenting an analysis of these problems and forms of treatment, by applying the concepts of social contagion, contamination and configurations. We argue with the concept of configuration, that problems with trauma and spirits are constituted both by the violence of the war and the various, but limited treatment options that are available in northern Uganda today.