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  • © 2017

Afflictions

Steps Toward a Visual Psychological Anthropology

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Offers an emergent theory and methodology uniquely situated to capture the lived realities of people with mental illness
  • Explores how the authors' form of visual practice and orientation, visual psychological anthropology, reshapes the entire research process
  • Complements the six-part, award-winning film series Afflictions: Culture and Mental Illness in Indonesia

Part of the book series: Culture, Mind, and Society (CMAS)

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Table of contents (12 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxvi
  2. Steps Towards a Visual Psychological Anthropology

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
    2. Visual Psychological Anthropology: A Vignette and Prospectus

      • Robert Lemelson, Annie Tucker
      Pages 3-24
    3. The Lived Experience of Culture and Mental Illness in Indonesia

      • Robert Lemelson, Annie Tucker
      Pages 49-70
  3. Afflictions: Culture and Mental Illness in Indonesia

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 71-71
    2. The Bird Dancer: Social Rejection and Social Suffering

      • Robert Lemelson, Annie Tucker
      Pages 73-97
    3. Memory of My Face: Globalization, Madness, and Identity On-screen

      • Robert Lemelson, Annie Tucker
      Pages 135-156
    4. Kites and Monsters: Continuity in Cultural Practices

      • Robert Lemelson, Annie Tucker
      Pages 177-190
  4. The Practice of Visual Psychological Anthropology

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 191-191
    2. The Process of Visual Psychological Anthropology

      • Robert Lemelson, Annie Tucker
      Pages 193-244
    3. Collaboration, Intervention, Compensation, and Ethics

      • Robert Lemelson, Annie Tucker
      Pages 245-272
  5. Back Matter

    Pages 287-306

About this book

This book is one of the first to integrate psychological and medical anthropology with the methodologies of visual anthropology, specifically ethnographic film. It discusses and complements the work presented in Afflictions: Culture and Mental Illness in Indonesia, the first film series on psychiatric disorders in the developing world, in order to explore pertinent issues in the cross-cultural study of mental illness and advocate for the unique role film can play both in the discipline and in participants’ lives. Through ethnographically rich and self-reflexive discussions of the films, their production, and their impact, the book at once provides theoretical and practical guidance, encouragement, and caveats for students and others who may want to make such films. 

Reviews

“This book is intended to complement the stories and themes explored in the films, and to shed light on the contribution of ethnographic film to psychological anthropology. … The book is not only relevant and informative on the subject of visual anthropology, but it is also very concrete: Lemelson provides many examples of his own experience and that of other researchers, which helps to make the book practical.” (Véronique Senécal-Lirette, Anthropology Bookforum, Vol. 5 (1), 2019)

Authors and Affiliations

  • University of California, Los Angeles, USA

    Robert Lemelson, Annie Tucker

About the authors

Robert Lemelson is Associate Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles, USA, Founder and Director at Elemental Productions, and Founder and President of The Foundation for Psychocultural Research.



Annie Tucker is Lecturer at the University of California, Los Angeles, USA, and Senior Researcher at Elemental Productions.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access