Knowledge of illness and medicine among Cokwe of Zaire

Abstract

This paper analyses the structure of Cokwe medical knowledge in the context of the occurrence of illness. Their knowledge of illness and medicine grows out of several centuries of contact with neighboring peoples, and, most recently, with Europeans. The paper makes four main points. First, that Cokwe classification of disease can best be understood as based upon a series of principles by which diseases are identified. Second, that the ascription of causation is more important in the choice of treatment than in the diagnosis of disease. Third, that causal explanations change when illnesses are unresponsive to treatment. And fourth, that one can best understand the importance of the various categories of medical knowledge when those categories are placed within specific episodes of illness.