«Zvinorwadza»: Being a patient in the religious and medical plurality of the Mberengwa district, Zimbabwe

Zvinorwadza, a very common formulation heard among patients in the Mberengwa district, Zimbabwe, means «it is painful» or «it hurts». This book deals with patients in a rural area of southern Africa and poses two basic questions: What does it mean to be ill in this part of the world and what do patients’ life—worlds look like? Patients’ illness experiences are described with the word pain, anxiety and sometimes despair; their social situations are often marked by vulnerability, exposedness ...