Celebrations of the body [Ressource électronique] : female spirituality and corporeality in Muslim Morocco / Maria Giovanna Messina

Ph. D. : Anthropologie : State University of New York at Stony Brook : 1991

Bibliogr. p. 342-371

This dissertation provides an anthropological analysis on a source of cultural reflection and meaning common to all societies - the human body. The assumption here is that the body is used as a means of communication and as a basis for thinking about other things. The concern for the body is analyzed in the context of contemporary, Islamic Morocco. Although Islamic notions of purity and pollution pertain to females and males alike, the ethnographic data in this dissertation focus almost exclusively on the symbolism and social organization of women in the madina of Fez, primarily in the hammam or public bath, at home during ordinary and special "occasions" such as henna parties, and on the significance of fasting, especially during the holy month of Ramadan. The discussion explores the various ways women enact their commitment to the faith, celebrate life, feminine beauty, as they decorate and protect their bodies with henna, care for their material and spiritual "selves" through these occasions