<特集論文>序論 : 呪術的実践 = 知の現代的諸相 --科学/医療/宗教/その他の実践 = 知との並存状況から

Abstract

This special issue has its origin in a symposium held by the Kyoto Anthropological Research Group on the 12th of July, 2014 in Kyoto University. This symposium aimed to clarify the positioning of magic in contemporary circumstances of knowledge/practices and examine the usefulness of its concept in that setting. Here, we would like to dig into the problem more and try to understand magic from the angle of "practice-knowledge" in the contemporary world, in which magic is remarkable for its coexistence or adjacency with 'other' practice-knowledge such as science, medical technology, religion, education, and mass media. All three contributors of this special issue are the speakers of the symposium, and at the same time, the authors of "Anthropology of Magic" published in 2012 (eds. by Chihiro Shirakawa and Makito Kawada), in which discussions of our collaborative studies on magic in the past ten years are reflected. In this book, we share a critical mind about how the incidents of magic are experienced by the persons who are concerned and how they appear along with reality for them, together with a reconsideration of the topic of "magic and modernity", which prospered in the 1990s. To approach the core of the matter, we focused on the phrase, "I know ….., but still ….." at the center of the thought and practice of magic. It is possible to distribute knowledge on the side of "I know" and practice on the other side of "but still", and we can regard magic as acts bridging between knowledge and practice. While many discussions unfolded, the following issues were left unfinished; (1) A relationship with other practices (science, medical service, religion, etc.) (2) Problems of palpability and materiality that can be shared with the anthropology of sense and anthropology of materiality. It is the main concern of this special issue and the present collaborative study by us to make progress on these tasks from the viewpoint of "practice-knowledge". It is the concept encompassing both knowledge and practice, including dimensions of sense and belief. This concept develops the concluding point of previous studies that the phrase, "I know ….., but still ….." makes a bridge between knowledge and practice and intends to capture the significance of magic in the contemporary setting. For this purpose, we will see the dichotomy of 'knowing' and 'acting' more precisely and differentiate them into four dimensions; 'believing', 'knowing', 'acting', and 'feeling'. Articles in this special issue are going to understand magical "practice-knowledge" concretely by paying attention to the micro scene of the people concerned. In the article by Fumihiko Tsumura, the "efficacy" of cures by injection doctors and blowing doctors in Northern Thailand are examined through the experiences of physical senses such as pain. Whereas many problems of sensory experience of cures are common with Tsumura's paper, Junko Iida's paper especially focuses on contemporary scenes such as the hospital, school, and mass media. And Masatake Kurokawa discusses the sense of sight based on the historical documents of witches in early modern Europe. After three articles, Yosuke Shimazono gives comments mainly from the point of view of medical anthropology. Together with the "practice-knowledge" connection in sensory experiences, this study sheds light on the side that magic produces modernity, which is in contrast with "magic (and witchcraft) and modernity, " namely modernity producing magic, a point made in the 1990s. It is the main concern of contributors that modern technology and knowledge（such as science, medical care, and school education）tend to be performed in a normal position in everyday life through a process in which magical "practice-knowledge" is invoked and its sensory dimension is accompanied. It is also possible that magical "practice-knowledge" subtilizes sensory experiences, and scientific knowledge and technology can establish a place to stay in form without contradicting its sensory dimension. In other words, we are going to regard magical "practice-knowledge" as phenomena occurring in the contemporary world.