Folk Medicine And Heritage: European Healing in Buenos Aires (1870-1940)

Dahhur’s book plently contributes at the issue of health and disease in rural areas, considering as a study-case the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Its wealth lies in the specific analysis of the contributions of traditional European medicine to the history of the practice of native medicine, also called “popular” or “casera” medicine and, from the 20th century, “folkloric medicine”, since it brings together various traditions. In this sense, this book first shows us a strong link between magical-religious and empirical “medical knowledge”, with traditions, techniques and medical practices brought by European immigrants in the 19th century (although in some cases these could also going back to colonial times) and which lasted well into the 20th century.