Obraz indickej medicíny: od koloniálnej minulosti po súčasnosť

Abstract

Some Orientalist writers have historically referred to indigenous medicines of India as static systems, which have over the course of history only slightly developed and were least influenced by historical, economic and political circumstances. Over last few decades, the Western interpretations have become the subject of revisiting and criticism, this is the case of Indian medical lore as well. In the Western reflection of indigenous medicine of India, we identify representations, most notably based on the dichotomy of the West and the East as two essentially different cultural areas. Therefore, traditional Indian medicine is described as ageless and ancient practice. On the one hand, the medical scriptures were interpreted as the primitive superstition, full of unscientific approaches, based on absurd assumptions and religious ideas regarding the man. On the other hand, Indian medicine is part of classical heritage and source of archaic wisdom. In fact, Indian indigenous systems of medicine present a heterogeneous cultural phenomena; insights, ideas and particularly practices, that transformed and developed as every other part of culture. Hence, critical review on cultural history of Western representations of Indian medical traditions and their impact on contemporary intercultural encounters is needed.