2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Experiences at the Edge of Science and Religion: a Comparative Research on Exorcism in Contemporary Japan, Italy and Austria
| Project/Area Number |
15K16905
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Research Field |
Cultural anthropology
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| Research Institution | Ritsumeikan University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
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| Keywords | Exorcism / Spirit Possession / Religious Healing / Ritual / Psychiatry / Biomedicine |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
The research relied on archival research and fieldwork in Italy, Austria and Japan. Fieldwork in Italy was carried out in August-September and March; fieldwork in Japan in February, August and September. In Italy, I interviewed several exorcists and carried out participant observation during Roman Catholic exorcisms in Central Italy. I started a long-term collaboration especially with a possessed woman, who allowed me to follow her case and to publish about it. We are working on publishing her story together.
In Japan, fieldwork has focused mainly on Kenmi Jinja (Tokushima Pref). The fieldwork has given very good results both about (inugami) possession and ritual healing.
By interviewing also psychiatrists and specialist in biomedicine in both contexts, I understood the dynamics through which possession emerges in the interaction between medicine and religious healing.Research results were published internationally and I started working on a monograph to be published in 2019.
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| Free Research Field |
文化人類学
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