Beyond Surgery: Injury, Healing, and Religion at an Ethiopian Hospital

260 Pages·2017·1.36 MB·English

by  Anita Hannig

Beyond Surgery

Beyond Surgery
Injury, Healing, and Religion at
an  Ethiopian Hospital
ANITA HANNIG
The University of Chicago Press
Chicago and London
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2017 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2017
Printed in the United States of America
26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 45715- 4 (cloth)
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 45729- 1 (paper)
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 45732- 1 (e- book)
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226457321.001.0001
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Hannig, Anita, author.
Title: Beyond surgery : injury, healing, and religion at an Ethiopian hospital /
Anita Hannig.
Description: Chicago ; London : The University of Chicago Press, 2017. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2016047604| ISBN 9780226457154 (cloth : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9780226457291 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780226457321 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Medical anthropology—Ethiopia. | Fistula, Vesico-vaginal—
Treatment—Ethiopia. | Fistula, Vesico-vaginal—Social aspects—Ethiopia. |
Fistula, Vesico-vaginal—Religious aspects—Ya’Ityop.yā ’ortodoks tawāḥedo
béta kerestiyān. | Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia. | Fistula, Vesico-vaginal—
Hospitals—Ethiopia—’Amāra kelel. | Women patients—Ethiopia—’Amāra
kelel. | Women’s hospitals—Ethiopia—’Amāra kelel.
Classifi cation: LCC GN296.5.E8 H36 2017 | DDC 306.4/610963—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016047604
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1 992
(Permanence of Paper).
Für meine Eltern

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments / ix
Introduction / 1
PART ONE: KIN, SOCIETY, AND RELIGION
ONE / A Malleable World: Injury, Care, and Belonging / 31
Interlude: Yashume / 57
TWO / The Pure and the Pious: Flow, Containment,
and Transgression / 64
PART TWO: FISTULA TREATMENT AND THE INSTITUTION
THREE / Mending the Mothers of Ethiopia: Institutional
Roots, Logic, and Mission / 93
Interlude: Poison / 119
FOUR / Clinical Tracks: Moving through Surgery / 122
PART THREE: BEYOND SURGERY
FIVE / Healing and Reforming: The Making of the
Modern Clinical Subject / 149
Interlude: Conversion / 176
SIX / From Orphan to Apprentice: Crafting Patient
Entrepreneurs at Desta Mender / 179
Conclusion / 205
Notes / 209
References / 227
Index / 237
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The debts incurred while researching and writing this book are many. I owe
my deepest gratitude to the patients and staff at the Addis Ababa and Bahir
Dar fi stula hospitals as well as at Desta Mender. They graciously welcomed
me into their world. I am thankful for the countless hours they devoted to
helping me understand the complex tapestries of their lives; it is my hope
that this study does justice to some of their experiences. Special thanks to
my nurse aide friends who kindly opened their home at the hospital to
me. None of this research could have taken place without the sustained
support of the then medical director of the fi stula hospital in Addis Ababa.
My appreciation for him and his work is profound, and from this place of
admiration springs my hope that the critical facets of this study may be
marshaled toward good effects.
Thanks to Richelle Haines for fi rst introducing me to the fi stula hospital
in Addis Ababa. Thanks also to my research assistants in Ethiopia, espe-
cially Bethlehem Hailu, whose hard work had a lot to do with how this
project unfolded. Both in the fi eld and in the write-u p phase, Tom Boylston
has been an interlocutor of the highest caliber. His rigorous approach to
anthropology made me examine my fi ndings from a fresh angle and ask
different kinds of questions. Erica van der Sijpt read an earlier version of
this manuscript with a keen eye to detail. Diego Maria Malara came to this
project in the later phases; his intellect, generosity, and ethnographic talent
lifted this book to the next level. Julianne Weis, in addition to being an
exciting scholar in the fi eld of maternal health in Ethiopia, shared access
to key archival materials with me, which added crucial historical depth to
this study. Alice Street’s thoughtful comments on the manuscript proved
instrumental in its fi nal stages. I can’t thank her enough for pushing me to
include a chapter on surgery and for helping me see the overall signifi cance