Authors
- Jack Kenneth MenkePhD in Social Sciences, Chairperson of SuriBraz Academic Network and Full Professor, Anton de Kom University, Paramaribo, Surinamehttps://orcid.org/0009-0009-7303-4619
- Henk Ewald MenkePhD in Medicine, Researcher, Guest appointment, Freudenthal Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlandshttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3618-9365
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18472/SustDeb.v15n1.2024.52016Keywords:
Traditional taboos, Tyina, Trefu, Leprosy, Suriname, Greater CaribbeanAbstract
Traditional taboos have persisted in Suriname, thanks to the sustainability of African culture in Maroon communities in the interior of the country. A conceptual dichotomy emerged in the 19th and early 20th centuries coinciding with two geographical regions: in the coastal region, ‘trefu’, a food taboo, practised mainly by Creoles, violation of which was thought to result in contracting leprosy, and in the interior ‘tyina’, a ‘broader’ taboo concept (food, places, actions) practised by Maroons. Recent research indicates the dichotomy is weakening, reflected in a declining belief in the trefu-leprosy relation and a merging of ‘trefu’ and ‘tyina’, exchange of taboo practices between ethnic groups and declining adherence of youngsters to taboos. The migration of Maroons to the coastal region and creolisation appear to be driving forces behind these processes, whilst the decline in leprosy incidence may also have contributed. Additional research is needed to understand the evolution of traditional taboos in Suriname and the Greater Caribbean.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
Author Biographies
Jack Kenneth Menke, PhD in Social Sciences, Chairperson of SuriBraz Academic Network and Full Professor, Anton de Kom University, Paramaribo, Suriname
Jack Menke has been involved in academic projects in several countries and regions, e.g. Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana, Brazil, the United States, the Caribbean, Belgium and the Netherlands. He participates in innovative research and networks across disciplines and themes. He published on methodology, sustainability, regionalism, health and ecology, political economy, and cultural diversity. His most recent book is: Sustainability at a Crossroads; Challenges and opportunities of the Guiana Shield. Forthcoming publication: Suriname: Land of diversity. Balancing nature and culture for development.
Henk Ewald Menke, PhD in Medicine, Researcher, Guest appointment, Freudenthal Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
Henk Menke studied medicine and subsequently specialized in dermatology and medical history. His research, cutting through disciplines, focuses on historical and socio-cultural aspects of major dermatological and STD related infectious diseases, in particular leprosy. Furthermore on the historically developed interaction between infected people, their cultural heritage and the surrounding nature.
References
BENJAMINS, H. D. Treef en lepra in Suriname. De West-Indische Gids. v. 11, p. 187-218, 1930. Available in: https:// brill.com/view/journals/nwig/11/1/article-p187_18.xml. Access at: 14 Dec. 2023.
BOSMAN, W. A. New and accurate description of the coast of Guinea, divided into the Gold, the Slave, and the Ivory coasts. Printed for Sir Alfred Jones, K. C. M. G. by Ballantyne and co. Limited at the Ballantyne Press, London. 1907. p. 154-155. Available in: https://archive.org/details/newaccuratedescr00bosm/page/200/ mode/2up?q=145 Access at: 14 Dec. 2023.
DAVIS, N. Z. Regaining Jerusalem: eschatology and Slavery in Jewish Colonization in Seventeeth-Century Suriname. Cambridge Journal of Postcolonial Literary Inquiry. v. 3, n. 1, p. 11-38, 2016. DOI: 10.1017/pli.2015.29.
DE BEET, C.; STERMAN, M. People in between: the Matawai Maroons of Suriname. PhD Thesis Utrecht University, Repro, Meppel, 1981. Available in: https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/beet027peop01_01/beet027peop01_01_0028. php. Access at: 14 Dec. 2023.
DROGNAT LANDRE, C. L. De la contagion, seule cause de la propagation de la lèpre. Baillière, Paris, 1869. 80p. Available in: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/hurf4g3n. Access at: 14 Dec. 2023.
ELIZA, F. R. Language, culture and sustainability: the case of the Ndyuka in Diitabiki, Suriname. (MSc Thesis) – Universidade de Brasília – UNB. Centro de Desenvolvimento Sustentável, Brasília, 2017.
FERMIN, P. Nieuwe algemeene beschryving van de Colonie van Suriname, eerste deel. Harlingen 1770, Ter Drukkerye van V. van der Plaats Junior, Harlingen, 2017. p.123-124. Available in: https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/ ferm001nieu01_01/index.php. Access at: 14 Dec. 2023.
FLU, P. C. Verslag van een studiereis naar Suriname (Nederlandsch Guyana) Sept. 1927-Dec. 1927, en beschouwingen dienaangaande. Report on Investigations in Surinam (South America), September 1927 - December 1927). Acta Leidensia, v. 3, p. 1-188, 1928.
GIRVAN, N. Constructing the Greater Caribbean. In: LEWIS, P. et al (ed.), Pan-Caribbean Integration. Routledge, New York, 2018, 312 p.
GREEN, E. C. The Matawai Maroons: an Acculturating Afro American Society (of Suriname). (PhD Thesis) – George Washington University, 1974.
HERSKOVITS, M. J. Preliminary report of an ethnological expedition to Suriname. De West-Indische Gids. v. 10, p. 385-390, 1928.
HERSKOVITS, M. J.; HERSKOVITS, F. S. Suriname folklore. Columbia University Press, New York,1936. Available in: https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/hers005suri01_01/hers005suri01_01_0047.php. Access at: 14 Dec. 2023.
HUTCHINSON, J. On leprosy and fish eating. A statement of facts and explanations. Archibald Constable & Co., LD., London, 1906, 420p.
JUNKER, L. De Godsdienst der boschnegers III. De West – Indische Gids. v. 7, p. 152-164, 1925.
LAMPE, P. H. J. ‘Het Surinaams treefgeloof’ Een volksgeloof betreffende het ontstaan van de melaatschheid. De West-Indische Gids. v. 10, p. 545-568, 1929.
LANDRÉ, C. Over de oorzaken van de verspreiding van lepra. Een waarschuwend woord hoofdzakelijk gericht tot de bewoners van Suriname. Martin Nijhoff, ‘s-Gravenhage, 1889, 15 p.
MENKE, J. Ethnicity between Nation-building and Nation-creation. In: MEEKS, B. (ed.) Caribbean Reasonings-M. G. Smith: social theory and anthropology in the Caribbean and beyond. Ian Randle Publishers, Kingston, p. 196- 220, 2011. 341 p.
MENKE, J.; MENKE, H. Decolonizing social sciences in Suriname: a strategic view in favor of regionalism. Sustentabilidade em Debate, v. 6, p. 260-275, 2015. DOI: https://10.18472/SustDeb.v6n2.2015.14725.
MENKE, J.; SNO, I. Ras en etniciteit in volkstelling van Suriname. In: MENKE, J. (ed.) Mozaïek van het Surinaamse volk, volkstellingen in demografisch, economisch en sociaal perspectief. ABS en IGSR, Paramaribo, 2016, 423 p.
MENKE, H.; PIETERS, T.; MENKE, J. How colonial power, colonized people and nature shaped leprosy settlements in Suriname. Societies. v. 10, n. 2, p. 32, 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/soc10020032.
MENKE, H.; SNELDERS, S.; PIETERS, T. Leprosy control and contagionism in Suriname. Academic Journal of Suriname, v. 2, p. 168-175, 2011.
NGWENYAMA, C. N. Material beginnings of the Saramaka maroons: an archaeological investigation. PhD dissertation, Graduate school of the university of Florida, 2007.
PANDYA, S. S. Anticontagionism in leprosy, 1844–1897. Int J Lepr Other Mycobact Dis, v. 66, p. 374–384, 1998. PECHUËLL LOESCHE, E. Volkskunde von Loango. Verlag von Strecker & Schröder, Stuttgart, 1907. Reissued in 2016 by Literaricon Verlag Inhaber Roswitha Werding, Uhlbergstr. 18, 91757 Treuchtlingen, 2016, 503 p.
RAMDAS, S. et al. Deel 3 De wereld van de Surinaamse leprapatiënt II Analyse: over stigma, pluralisme, treef en tyina. In: MENKE, H. et al. (ed.) De Tenen van de Leguaan Verhalen uit de Wereld van Surinaamse Leprapatiënten. LM Publishers, Volendam, 2019, 200 p.
REYME, M.; MENKE, J. Deel 2 De wereld van de Surinaamse leprapatiënt I Verhalen over liefde en haat, geloof en vloek, medeleven en uitsluiting. In: MENKE, H. et al. (ed.) De Tenen van de Leguaan Verhalen uit de Wereld van Surinaamse Leprapatiënten. LM Publishers, Volendam, 2019, 200 p.
ROBERT, O. Trefu en tyina. De rol en betekenis van complexe taboeconcepten in het leven van bewoners van de buurt Sophia’s Lust in Suriname. (BSc Thesis) –Anton de Kom University, Paramaribo, 2022.
SCHILLING, G. W. Dissertatio medica inauguralis de lepra. PhD dissertation Utrecht University, 1769.
SNELDERS, S. Leprosy and Slavery in Suriname: Godfried Schilling and the Framing of a Racial Pathology in the Eighteenth Century. Soc. Hist. Med. v. 26, p. 432–450, 2013. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/shm/hkt040. SNELDERS, S. Leprosy and colonialism Suriname under Dutch rule, 1750-1950. Manchester University Press, 2017, 288 p.
SOINI, K.; BIRKELAND, I. Exploring the scientific discourse on cultural sustainability. Geoforum, v. 51, p. 213-223, 2014. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2013.12.001.
STEDMAN, J. G. Narrative of a Five Years’ Expedition against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam, in Guiana on the Wild Coast of South America from the years 1772 to 1777, vol II. Publisher: J. Johnson, St Paul’s Church Yard & J. Edwards, PallMall. 1796. Available in: https://shorturl.at/pMNOS Access at: 23 Dec. 2023.
TEENSTRA, M. D. De landbouw in kolonie Suriname, tweede deel. H. Eekhoff, Groningen, 1835.
TROUILLOT, M. R. Culture on the Edges: creolization in the Plantation Context. In: Cahier ICF-2006: the African diaspora & creolization literary forum. A.C.T.I.O.N. Foundation, Inc., Broward County, 2006.
VAN ANDEL, T. R. et al. Local plant names reveal that enslaved Africans recognized substantial parts of the New World flora. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. v. 111, n. 50, 2015. E5346-E5353. DOI: https:// doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1418836111.
VAN HAAREN, M. et al. Illness perceptions of leprosy-cured individuals in Surinam with residual disfigurements – “I am cured, but still I am ill.” Chronic Illness, v. 13, n. 2, p. 117-127, 2017. DOI: 10.1177/1742395316657398.
VINK, W. Creole Jews: negotiating community in colonial Suriname. KITLV Press, Leiden, 2010.
WARNER-LEWIS, M. Central Africa in the Caribbean: transcending time, transforming cultures. University of the West Indies Press, Kingston, 2003.
WHITE, C. Explaining a Complex Disease Process: talking to patients about Hansen’s disease (Leprosy) in Brazil. Med Anthropol Q., v. 19, p. 310–330, 2008. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/maq.2005.19.3.310.
WHO. Global leprosy (Hansen disease) update, 2021: moving towards interruption of transmission. Weekly epidemiological record global leprosy situation by WHO region, country and territories. Available in: https:// www.who.int/publications/i/item/who-wer9736-429-450. Access at: 14 Dec. 2023.
