Walker Bynum, Caroline - Holy Anorexia in Modern Portugal

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  • 7/22/2019 Walker Bynum, Caroline - Holy Anorexia in Modern Portugal

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    R E V I E W A R T I C L E

    H O L Y A N O R E X I A I N M O D E R N P O R T U G A Lb y C a r o li n e W a lker B y n u m

    J o ~ o d e P i n a - C a b r a l , S o n s o f A d a m , Da u g h te rs o f E ve : Th e P ea s a n tW o r l dv i ew o f th e A l t o M i n h o ( O x f o r d : O x f o r d U n i v e r s i ty P r e ss , C l a r e n d o nP r es s , 1 9 8 6 ) .Th e r i v e r s id e p a r i s h es o f P ag o d e S . M i g u e l an d C o u t o d e S . F i n s i n th eA l t o M i n h o r e g i o n o f n o r t h w e s t e r n P o r t u g a l h a v e n o t g r o w n m u c h i np o p u l a t i o n s i n ce t h e 1 7 9 0 s . I n t h e 1 9 5 0 s an d 6 0 s , s u b s t an t i a l n u mb er s o ft h e i r y o u n g ma l e s emi g r a t ed t o f i n d w o r k i n f o r e i g n co u n t r i e s o r b i gP o r t u g u e s e c i ti e s. A l t h o u g h em i g r a t io n h as f a l l en o f f r ecen t l y an d t h er e g i o n is e x p e ri e n c in g a p e r i o d o f s e ri o u s u n e m p l o y m e n t a n d d e c r e a s in gs t an dar d o f li ving , i nhab i t an t s o f m i n h o t o h aml e t s h av e co n t ac t s w i t h t h ep e o p l e o f lo c a l t o w n s a n d b i g c it ie s a n d i n cr e a si n g ly m a k e u s e o f u r b a nco n cep t s an d v a l u es . N o n e t h e l e s s , a r g u es J o f i o d e P i n a - C ab r a l i n t h i swel l -wr i t t en and h igh ly i n t e l l i gen t l oca l s t udy , t he t e rm 'peasan t ' i s s t i l lap p o s i t e in d e s c r i b i n g t h e r e s id en t s o f P aq o an d C o u t o , f o r t h e m a j o r i t yr e m a i n a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e r s w h o e x t r a c t f r o m t h e l a n d t h e y c o n t r o l t h eg r ea t e r p a r t o f th e i r s u b s i s t en ce n eed s .

    T h e w o r l d v i e w o f t h e b o u r g e o i s i e in n o r t h e r n P o r t u g a l is b a s e d o n t h en u c l ea r f ami l y fami l ia ) an d o n i n d i v i d u a l p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n t h e ca s he c o n o m y w i th a v i e w t o i n c re a s in g c o n s u m p t i o n o f g o o d s . I n c o n t ra s t , t h ep e a s a n t s o f th e A l t o M i n h o s e e t h e h o u s e h o l d casa), s o m e t i m e s c a l le d t h e'hear th ' o r ' f i r e ' , as t he cen t ra l soc i a l un i t . Grounded in a sa fe and v i s ib l ee c o n o m i c a s s e t - - l a n d - - t h e h o u s e h o l d d e t e r m i n e s a p e a s a n t ' s s o c i a ls t an d i n g . U n l i k e t h e b o u r g eo i s i e , p ea s an t s a r e i n c l i n ed t o s t r e s s eq u a l i t ya n d c o m m u n a l c o o p e r a t i o n ( n o t co n f li c t o r d i f fe r e n c e s ) b e t w e e n h o u s e -h o l d s . I n t h e s e h aml e t s , P i n a - C ab r a l f i n d s ' en v y ' t o b e t h e p e r ce i v eds o u r ce o f s o c i a l co n f l i c t , an ev i l co u n t e r ac t ed p r i mar i l y t h r o u g h w h i t ew i t ch es an d p r i e s ts . Ev e n d ee p e r i n t h e cu l t u r e t h an t h e f ea r o f en v y , h ea r g u es , l i e o p p o s i t i o n s o f ma l e / f ema l e , p u r i t y / f e r t i l i t y , ma r r i ag e / s ex u a l i t y- - o p p o s i t i o n s t h a t m u s t b e m e d i a t e d i f t h e c o m m u n i t y i s t o s u r v i v e a n df l o u ri s h . P i n a - C ab r a l s h o w s h o w p eas an t s u s e an c i en t C h r is t ian s y m b o l san d p r ac t i ce s t o r eco n c i l e t h e s e o p p o s i t i o n s , s o me t i mes i n w ay s t h em o d e r n c l e r g y f i n d d i s co n ce r t in g . S u ch s y m b o l s - - ch i e f ly t h e cu l t o f s a in t sa n d t h e v e n e r a t i o n o f J e s u s a n d M a r y - - g iv e m e a n i n g t o d a i ly r o u t in e a n ds eem t o b r i n g l if e o u t o f d e a t h b y t ami n g f e r t il it y w i t h p u r i ty .Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 12 (1988 ) 239--248. 1988 by Kluw erAcad emic Publishers.

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    2 4 0 R E V I E W A R T I C L EI n t h is s t u d y o f a few h u n d r ed h o u s eh o l d s i n r u r a l P o r t u g a l , t h e r e is

    m u ch o f im p o r t an ce , s u b s t an t i v e ly an d m e t h o d o l o g i ca l l y , f o r h is t o ri an san d an t h r o p o l o g i s t s o f Eu r o p e . R ead e r s o f t hi s j o u m a l , w i t h t h e i r i n t e re s ti n c r o s s - cu l t u r a l p s y ch i a t r y , w i l l p e r h ap s b e mo s t f a s c i n a t ed b y t h e f i n a l ,u n f o r t u n a t e l y s o mew h a t h a s t y p ag es , i n w h i ch P i n a - C ab r a l d i s cu s s e s t h ep l ace o f in co r r u p t b o d i e s an d n o n - e a t e r s i n t h e cu lt o f t h e s a in ts . M i n h o t op eas an t s r ev e r e b o d i e s w h i ch , a f t e r b u r i a l , r ema i n i n co r r u p t , r e t a i n i n gt h e i r f l e s h an d c l o t h es i n v i o l a t e ; t h ey a l s o r ev e r e w o men w h o a r e r ep o r t edt o ea t an d d r i n k n o t h i n g ex cep t t h e eu ch a r i s t i c h o s t an d t h e r e f o r e t o l a ckn o r m a l b o d i l y f u n c t i o n s . P i n a - C ab r a l a s s imi l a te s th e s e t w o p h en o m en a t ot h e cu l t o f s o u l s in p u r g a t o r y an d , u s i n g t h e co n ce p t o f l im i n a l it y d ev e l -o p ed b y V an G en n e p a n d Tu r n e r , ex p l a i n s al l t h r ee cu l ts a s me d i a t io n ,p a r a ll e li n g t h e m ed i a t i o n o f t h e V i r g in an d C h r i s t h ims e l f. D ea d b o d i e stha t do no t decay ( t ha t i s , t ha t a re a l i ve whi l e dead) and l i v ing bod ies t ha tdo no t ea t o r e xcr e t e ( t ha t i s , t ha t be ha ve as i f de ad wh i l e st ill a l ive) a re ,a rgues P ina-Ca bra l , l imina l en t it ies . T he y are l imina l ( li te r a ll y , a t t heb o u n d a r i e s ) b ecau s e t h ey l i e b e t w een t w o r ea l ms : t h e l i v i n g an d t h e d ead .W i t h t h e ex cep t i o n o f a f ew g r ea t s i n n e r s ( w h o a r e b e l i ev ed t o b ei n co r r u p t i b l e u n t i l i n co r p o r a t ed i n t o t h e ch u r ch ) , i n co r r u p t b o d i e s an dn o n - ea t e r s a r e h e l d i n mi n h o t o cu l t u r e t o b e in d i v id u a l s o f g r ea t p u r i ty - -v i rg i n it y ( o r s ex u a l p u r it y ) i n t h e ca s e o f w o m en , e x t r ao r d i n a r y ma t e r ia lg en e r o s i t y ( o r e c o n o m i c p u r i t y ) in t h e ca s e o f men . I n t h e i r l iv e s , t h e s ep u r e o n e s p a r a ll e l C h r i st a n d t h e V ir gin , e a c h o f w h o m w a s c o n c e i v e dw i t h o u t s t a in o f o r ig i na l s i n an d w as t r an s p o r t ed t o h eav e n a t d ea t hw i t h o u t p h y s i ca l co r r u p t i o n . Th u s , P i n a - C ab r a l ex p l a i n s , t h e s e s a i n t s n o to n l y c r o s s t h e b o u n d a r i e s o f l if e an d d ea t h i n th e i r o w n b o d i e s , t h ey a ls osymbol i ze t he sp i r i t ua l r eb i r t h t ha t God o f fe r s t o a l l t he f a i t h fu l . F ina l ly ,t h e au t h o r h o l d s , s u ch s a i n t s r ep r e s en t f o r t h e p eas an t a r eco n c i l i a t i o n o rm ed i a t i o n b e t w een t h e co n f l i c ti n g d em an d s o f p h y s i ca l l if e an d s o c i a lo r d e r . Th e i n co r r u p t d e ad an d t h e n o n - ea t i n g l iv in g s y mb o l i ze r e s t ra i n t o rp u r i t y t h a t h a r n es s e s an d ch an n e l s , b u t d o e s n o t d e s t r o y , f e rt il it y .F o r t w o r ea s o n s , P i n a - C ab r a l ' s b r i e f d i s cu s s io n o f t h e n o n - ea t i n g liv in ga n d t h e n o n - d e c a y i n g d e a d is m o r e i m p o r t a n t t h a n i t a p p e a r s u p o ncu r s o r y r ead in g . F i r s t, P i n a - C a b r a l h i ms e l f u n d e r p l ay s t h e ex t en t t o w h i cht h e b a s i c cu l t u r a l a t t i t u d es h e ex p l i ca t e s a r e r ecap i t u l a t ed i n t h e s e b i za r r ec u lt s. S e c o n d , t h e a p p e a r a n c e o f a n u m b e r o f re c e n t w o r k s t h a t t re a tn o n - e a t i n g f r o m n u m e r o u s m e t h o d o l o g i c a l s t a n d p o i n t s p l a c e s t h i s m o d e s tl oca l s t udy , qu i t e w i thou t i t s au tho r b e ing aw are o f i t o r de s i r i ng it, int h e p o s i t io n o f rep r e s en t i n g - - an d r ep r e s en t i n g e x t r eme l y w e l l - - t h ean t h r o p o l o g i ca l ap p r o ach t o w h a t o n e r ecen t s ch o l a r h a s ca l led h o l yanore x i a (Bel l 1985) . I beg in wi th t he f i r s t po in t bec au se it wi ll bo l s t e rt h e s eco n d .

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    R E V I E W A R T I C L E 2 4 1P i n a - C a b r a l k n o w s , h e s a y s, o f m a n y c a s e s o f n o n - ea t in g ; h e d o e s n o t

    t el l u s h o w m a n y . H e m e n t i o n s t h r e e a n d c o m m e n t s : I t is w o r t h n o t in gt ha t [ t h e y ] . . . w e r e w o m e n a n d . . , r e p o r t e d t o h a v e b e e n s e xu a ll y 'p u re '.H e a l s o co mm en t s : Th es e cu l ts a r e n o t a t a ll p ecu l i a r to P o r t u g a l , an dm a y b e f o u n d t h r o u g h o u t t h e C a t h o li c , a n d i n d e e d t h e C h r is ti a n, w o r l d .B u t h e c i t e s a s p a ra l le l o n l y t h e ca s e o f t h e B av a r i an p eas an t w o m an ,T h e r e s a N e u m a n n , w h o d i e d i n 1 9 6 2 , a l t h o u g h t h e r e a r e o t h e r m o d e r nc a s e s a lm o s t e q u a l l y w e l l - k n o w n ( s e e T h u r s t o n 1 9 5 2 ; P a t e r 1 9 4 6 ) . D i s-cu s s i n g i n co r r u p t b o d i e s , P i n a - C ab r a l n o t e s t h a t t h r ee o f th e e i g h t c a s e sa r e w o m e n a n d t h a t fe m a l e p u r i ty is u n d e r s t o o d t o b e s e x u al w h e r e a s m a l ep u r i t y r e s u l t s f r o m s o c i a l an d eco n o mi c s e l f - d ep r i v a t i o n . B u t h e d o es n o tp u r s u e t h e c o n n e c t i o n b e t w e e n w o m e n a n d f o o d o r w o m e n a n d p h y s i c a li nv io l ab i l it y t ha t h i s ear l i e r ch ap te r s sugges t .

    Y e t , i n P i n a - C ab r a l ' s b o o k , w e l ea r n t h a t w o men a r e e s p ec i a l l y a s s o -c i a t ed w i t h t h e i mp u r i t y o f s ex u a l d e s i r e an d o f g r eed f o r f o o d ( t h a t i s,w i t h t ak in g i n t o o mu ch ) an d w i t h t h e i mp u r i t y o f b i r th i n g an d m en s t r u a -t i o n ( t h a t is , w i t h b o u n d a r y - b r e ak i n g b y f lo w i n g o u t) . W e a l s o le a r n t h a tp e o p l e w h o ca s t th e ev i l ey e ( th e m o s t i mp o r t an t m an i f e s t a t io n o f ' en v y ' )a r e u n d e r s t o o d t o b e t h o s e w h o s e m o t h e r s d i d n o t s a ti sf y f o o d c r av in g sd u r i n g p r e g n a n c y . M o r e o v e r , s p e c i a l e m p h a s i s i s p l a c e d o n p r e g n a n tw o m e n c o n s u m i n g t h e e u c h a r i s t . U n t i l t h e p r e s e n t p r i e s t f o r b a d e t h ep r a c t ic e , l a c ta ti n g w o m e n a t t e n d e d m a s s o n S t. G r e g o r y ' s d a y a n d s u c k l e dt h e i r ch i l d r en f ac i n g t h e a l t a r a t t h e e l ev a t i o n o f t h e h o s t . Th u s t h e cu l t u r eo f th e A l t o M i n h o c l e a rl y p l a c e s m o r e e m p h a s i s t h a n P i n a - C a b r a l n o t ic e sb o t h o n t h e f a c t t h a t G o d c o m e s a s f o o d i n t h e m a s s a n d o n t h e r h y t h m o ft ak in g i n an d g iv i ng o u t ( th a t i s, o f b o u n d a r y c r o s s in g ) t h a t t h e f em a l eb o d y i t s e l f r ep r e s en t s . N o n - co n s u mer s a r e n o t o n l y l i v i n g - d ead ; t h ey a r ea l s o ab s t a i n i n g -ea t e r s , r e j ec ti n g t h e h u n g e r an d f e r ti li ty ty p i ca l o f w o m eni n o r d e r t o e a t a n d m e d i a t e t h e f o o d t h a t i s G o d . A l t h o u g h P i n a - C a b r a ld o e s n o t a l w ay s s p e l l o u t t h e i mp l i ca t io n s o f hi s ev i d en ce , h is b o o kp r e s en t s a p o w er f u l an d w i d e - r an g i n g s y mb o l i c an a l y s i s w i t h i n w h i ch t h eb e h a v i o r o f n o n -e a t in g w o m e n a n d t h e c u l tu r e 's r e v e r e n c e f o r th e m c a n b el o ca t ed .

    S u c h n o n - e a t in g w o m e n h a v e b e e n m u c h i n t h e n e w s o f l at e. J o u r -n a l is ti c d i s cu s s i o n o f a s t a rv i n g d i s ea s e ep i d em i c ( U S N ew s an d W o r l dR e p o r t 1 9 8 2 ; M s . m a g a z i n e 1 9 8 3 ) m a y h a v e b e e n e x a g g er a ti o n, b u tp s y ch i a t r is t s in t h e 1 9 7 0 s an d ea r l y 8 0 s v i ew ed w i th a l a r m t h e i n c r ea s e o fca s e s o f s e l f - s t a r v a t i o n - - a n o r e x i a n e r v o s a amo n g p r i v i l eg ed w h i t ea d o l e s c e n t f e m a l e s ( D u d d l e 1 9 7 3 ; C r i s p 1 9 7 6 ; B r u c h 1 9 8 2 ) . P s y c h o l o -g i s t s d i s p u t ed amo n g t h ems e l v es o v e r cau s a l ex p l an a t i o n s , o p p o s i n gb i o c h e m i c a l t h e o r i e s ( P o p e a n d H u d s o n 1 9 8 4 ) t o p s y c h o d y n a m i c ( B r u c h1 9 7 3 ; P a l azzo l i 1 9 7 8 ) an d cu l t u r a l o n es ( C h e r n i n 1 9 8 1 , 1 9 8 5 ) . A n d w h i l e

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    2 4 2 R E V I E W R T I C L Ep s y ch i a t r is t s an d p a r en t s s t ru g g l ed t o cu r e w h a t t h ey s aw a s l i f e -t h rea t en in gp a t h o l o g y , h i s to r i an s an d s t u d en t s o f co m p ar a t i v e r e li g io n f o u n d ca s e s o fn o n - ea t i n g - - a l mo s t a l w ay s fem a l e - - i n v e r y d i v e r s e cu l t u ra l s e t ti ng s .S c h o la r s, s u c h a s J o a n B r u m b e r g a n d J u d i t h V a n H e r i k , g a ve c a re f u lan a l y s e s o f w h y t h e b eh av i o r o f n i n e t een t h - cen t u r y P r o t e s t an t f a st in gg i rl s o r t w en t i e t h - cen t u r y my s t i c s s u ch a s S i mo n e W ei l m i g h t ( o r m i g h tn o t ) b e d e s c r i b e d a s a n o r e x i a n e r v o s a ( B r u m b e r g 1 9 8 6 ; V a n H e r i k 1 9 8 4 ) .I n a m a j o r an d w i d e l y - d i s cu s s ed s t u d y , R u d o l p h B e l l p r e s e n t ed a la r g en u m b er o f l a te m ed i ev a l I ta l ian ca s e s o f w h a t h e ca ll ed h o l y an o r ex i a - -t ha t i s , se l f - s t a rva t ion t ha t p rope l l ed i t s f emale p rac t i t i oner s t o sa in thood(Bel l 1985 ) . Cas es o f non-ea t ing t o wh ich s ign if i can t pos i t i ve cu l tu ra lv a l u e i s a t t a ch ed a r e a l s o b eg i n n i n g t o b e f o u n d i n n o n - w es t e r n cu l t u r e s ,b o t h a n c i e n t a n d m o d e r n ( V e n z k y 1 9 8 2 ; W a l t n e r 1 9 8 7 a n d w o r k inp r o g r e s s ) .

    Th e ca s e s t r ea t ed b y t h e s e s ch o l a r s a r e s u r p r i s in g l y s imila r. A l ex a n d r i n ad e B a l a z a r, d e s c r i b e d b y P i n a - C a b r a l, j u m p e d o u t o f a w i n d o w t o a v o i dsexual pu r su i t and was c r ipp l ed fo r l i f e . She t hen l i ved th i r t y - seven year sea t in g o n l y t h e eu ch a r i s t ic h o s t o n S u n d ay s , an d ev e r y F r i d ay s h e ex p e r i -en c ed i n h e r o w n b o d y t h e p a i n o f C h r i s t' s c r u c if ix i o n . A s R u d o l p h B e l lp o i n t s o u t , t h e I ta l ian s a i n t an d d o c t o r o f th e ch u r ch , C a t h e r i n e o f S ien a( d . 1 3 8 0 ) , a l s o r e j ec t ed men an d mar r i ag e w h en s h e r e j ec t ed f o o d ,s u r v i v e d f o r y e a r s o n t h e h o s t a l o n e , a n d e x p e r i e n c e d i n h e r b o d y( a l th o u g h i n v is ib l y ) t h e ma r k s o f C h r is t 's p a s s i o n ( B e l l 1 9 8 5 : 2 3 - - 5 3 ) . An u m b e r o f m e d i e v a l f e m a l e s ai nt s fr o m t h e n o r t h o f E u r o p e - - f o re x a m p l e , E l s b e t A c h i e r o f R e u t e a n d L i d w i n a o f S c h i e d a m - - a r e e x a c tp a r al le l s to A l e x a n d r i n a ( B y n u m 1 9 8 5 , 1 9 8 7 ) . E v e n c a s e s f r o m n o n -C a t h o l i c m i l i eu s - - f o r ex amp l e , t h e t w en t i e t h - cen t u r y my s t i c S i mo n eW e i l, w h o w a s J e w i s h b y b a c k g r o u n d , t h e s i x te e n t h - ce n t u r y C h i n e s ew o man T ' an Y an g - t zu , an d t h e n i n e t een t h - cen t u r y f a s t i n g g i r l k n o w n a st h e B r o o k l y n En i g m a - - s h o w s tr ik i n g s imi l ar it ie s : a ll d en y t h em s e l v esf o o d ( a n d s e x ) a n d e m b r a c e s u f f e r i n g i n o r d e r t o p r e p a r e t h e m s e l v e s f o rs o m e k i n d o f e x tr a o r d i n a ry r o le o f s e rv i c e a n d / o r e n c o u n t e r w i t h th ed i v in e . I n d ee d t h e r ecen t c a s e o f p o p u l a r s i n g e r K a r en C a r p en t e r , w h o s ed e a t h f r o m a n o r e x i a n e r v o s a r e c e i v e d w i d e s p r e a d m e d i a a t t e n t i o n , h a sp a r a l l e l s t o t h e ex amp l e s f r o m med i ev a l I t a l y an d mo d e r n P o r t u g a l .F i g u r e s s u ch a s C a r p en t e r s t ri v e t o em b o d y t h e id ea l s o f o u r c u l t u r e ( fo rex amp l e , t h i n n es s a s f ema l e b eau t y ) ; t h ey t o o g a i n p r o mi n en ce t h r o u g hsuffer ing.

    Th e f ac t th a t c a s e s o f f ema l e n o n - ea t i n g can b e f o u n d i n s o m an yd i f f e r en t t i mes an d p l ace s a r o u n d t h e g l o b e mi g h t ap p ea r t o s u g g es t t h a tan o r ex i a - - w h e t h e r h o l y o r n e r v o s a - - h a s a b a s i s i n f ema l e p h y s i o l o g y .

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    R E V I E W R T I C L E 243And this conclusion appears to be supported by recent successes intreating anorexia-bulimia with drugs long used for biochemically causeddepression (Pope and Hudson 1984) and by research on physiologicaldifferences underlying dietary preferences and ability to tolerate fasting(Hoyenga and Hoyenga 1979). The problem with drawing such a conclu-sion from the evidence now available is that the cultures within whichfemale non-eating occurs and achieves significance as a form of sanctity orempowerment are all cultures which, on the one hand, associate thefemale with body and sexuality and, on the other, expect females to sufferand to serve (especially to offer food to) others. Thus the appearance ofsimilar behavior in different cultural contexts does not prove that thebehavior has a physiological cause; in the relevant aspects -- that is, in theunderstanding of women's roles and the symbolic importance attached tothe female -- the cultures do not differ much after all. Moreover, the

    incidence of non-eating behavior, although it is difficult to determineexactly, clearly varies enormously over time (Bynum 1987: 197--201;Brumberg 1988, to appear). If the cause were physiological, the incidencewould vary little if at all.

    After carefully noting the similarities between Alexandrina de Balazar,Theresa Neumann, Lidwina of Schiedam, the Chinese mystic T'an Yang-tzu, and Karen Carpenter, we must then ask whether what we encounterin these cases is really the same behavior. Three considerations suggest tome that it is not. First, as Brumberg and Schadewaldt have argued, wesimply do not have clear enough written descriptions of eating behaviorbefore the seventeenth (or perhaps even the nineteenth) century to makeany kind of scientific diagnosis possible (Brumberg 1986; Schadewaldt1965). The biographers of medieval saints or Chinese holy women hadsuch vastly different interests and purposes from those of the psychiatristswho record accounts of twentieth-century anorectics that it seems unwiseto use either type of prose account as a guide to interpreting the other.Second, we may think we see more similarity between, for example, anAlexandrina de Balazar and a Karen Carpenter than there actually isbecause we confuse cause and effect. In other words, certain behaviorsthat we know to be the physiological results of acute starvation (forexample, extraordinary imperviousness to physical pain and inability toperceive bodily boundaries) may appear in certain fasting girls only as aresult of their non-eating, whereas in other religious and social contextsthese behaviors may be at the heart of the woman's vocation and foodrefusal may be simply a result of these deeper commitments. Third andmost important, the effect of isolating one kind of behavior -- that is,non-eating -- from other behaviors with which it is culturally associated

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    244 REVIEW ARTICLEmay make cases of the behavior look more similar than they otherwisewould. It is true, for example, that Raymond of Capua s Life of Catherineof Siena reads like the best known case history of anorexia, that of EllenWest (Bruch 1973 :219--222). Both girls fought with their parents, refusedto eat, and insisted on serving food to family members in unwelcomeways. If this is all we notice, we are tempted to conclude -- as doesRudolph Bell -- that both were anorectics; the only difference was that theanorexia was medically interpreted by the twentieth-century psychiatristand patient, theologically interpreted by the fourteenth-century confessor-hagiographer and his saintly heroine. But if we return the eating behaviorsto their context, first, in the lives of Catherine and Ellen, and, second, inthe cultures of medieval and modem Europe, the behaviors seem suddenlyfar less similar. The twentieth-century girl refused food in order to assertcontrol over her body; the fourteenth-century saint refused food in orderto eat God and feed her fellow sinners.

    The job of historians, anthropologists and psychologists is, however,not to isolate behaviors but rather to return them to their contexts. Thequestion then is: to what sort of context should the non-eaters of northwestPortugal, the saints of medieval Italy, and the anorectics of modemAmerica be returned? I would argue that Pina-Cabral s careful study of afew households in a Portuguese backwater provides a better model of howto put behavior in context than Bell s vastly more ambitious study of thenon-eating of medieval saints or the excessively narrow attempts atproviding cultural context made by present-day psychiatrists.

    The best recent writing on anorexia nervosa done for a generalaudience (Bruch 1973, 1978, Chemin 1985) does make an effort tolocate the self-starvation of female adolescents against the values of themodem western world -- both the cultural messages that equate femalebeauty with slimness and the recent pressure for and fear of femalesuccess. Nonetheless most such writing finds the fundamental cause ofnon-eating to lie in the psychodynamics of family life, especially thedaughter s struggle to separate from an over-controlling mother. It is thissense of underlying mother-daughter conflict, combined with a feministtheory of patriarchal exploitation, that Rudolph Bell adopts as an ana-lytical tool. Careful to say that holy anorexia is not anorexia nervosa, Bellnonetheless looks for the same dynamics in fourteenth-century familiesthat modern analysts find in the families of their patients. Moreover, likemo de m feminists, Bell sees women s behavior as rebellion against thepatriarchy that limited opportunities for public life and argues that theincidence of holy anorexia declines as women gain greater possibilities forengaging in social service.

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    REVIEW ARTICLE 245It is probably true that fourteenth and fifteenth-century Italian bour-

    geois families saw greater generational conflict than families in the earlyMiddle Ages (Herlihy 1978). Moreover, it is certainly true that holyanorexia has something to do with service, although the connection is notexactly the one Bell suggests. (Italian female saints defined non-eating notas an alternate to service but as service itself -- service of souls inpurgatory, service of the poor around them, and service of God.) ButBell's analysis, sensitive though it is, simply misses the centrality of food - -both as symbol and as fact -- in medieval Europe. It fails to note thatnon-eaters are also those in society who give away food, multiply food bymiracle, eat God, and even ecome food in miraculous lactations andexudings of holy oil or manna (Bynum 1987). Yet the most striking factabout tales of holy anorexia, placed in their proper cultural context, is thatthey occur in a society where women are food providers and in a religionwhere God is food and priest is cook and waiter. Thus women's foodabstaining, food consuming, and food distributing moves them closer toGod. A broader attention to the nature of women's roles and to thesymbolism of the female body suggests that neither mother-daughterconflict nor patriarchal control suffices to explain the non-eating ofmedieval saints. By extrapolation one might argue that broader attentionto these questions in the late twentieth century would show us that thestarving disease epidemic of our own time involves more - - both in

    order to be understood and in order to be cured -- than a fight for controlof the bodies of adolescent girls.

    Exactly such a sense of male/female roles and of the symbolism of thefemale body is found in Pina-Cabrars study of the Alto Minho. And thepicture of the meaning of eating and non-eating that may be extrapolatedfrom his material seems uncannily applicable to Bell's medieval Italiansaints. This conjunction suggests to me that symbolic anthropology is amore useful tool for American historians of the Middle Ages than the sortof psychological model Bell has adopted. But the conjunction raises a finalquestion as well. Modern rural Portugal and the small, busy towns ofmedieval Italy are far more like each other than either is like nineteenth ortwentieth-century America: what they have in common, most obviously, isCatholicism. How far, then, we must ask, is Catholic Christianity thecontext in which saintly non-eating in Europe should be understood? Isthe problematic value placed on the body, especially the female body, andon eating as a way of crossing body boundaries rooted in some basic wayin the Christian doctrine that the incarnation of God was made possible bya woman's (virgin) body and the doctrine that God comes as food in theeucharist?

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    46 R E V I E W A R T I C L EIn my own work I have gone a long way toward answering yes to this

    question (Bynum 1984, 1987). Now Pina-Cabral's ethnography and AnnWaltner's work on T'an yang-tzu must make me think again. ClearlyCatholicism is an important part of the context. But some of the deepestand most stubborn food attitudes and practices Pina-Cabral finds amongPortuguese peasants puzzle and antagonize the modern clergy. Moreover,the adherents of Alexandrina de Balazar and T'an-yang-tzu share certainassumptions about body and food as means of serving others and ap-proaching the divine. Folkloric elements, of the sort Annales schoolhistorians have recently taught us to look for (Le Goff 1980: vii--xv,153--88; Schmitt 1976; Zapperi 1983), seem to be incorporated in thereligious practices of minhoto peasants and, one suspects, of Italianwomen saints and Chinese mystics as well.

    To say this should not be to fall into the trap of opposing popular tolearned religion -- a trap scholars such as Peter Brown and John VanEngen have wisely warned us against (Brown 1981, Van Engen 1986). Itis merely to say that the symbolic importance of female body and food --of female body as food -- may be older than Christianity (althoughChristianity has certainly incorporated it). Thus we should not be sur-prised to find that a Jungian reading of the modern condition, such asAngelyn Spignesi's (1983), and Ann Waltner's scholarly explication of thelife of a Ming visionary sound the same symbolic note -- one also found inthe hagiography of Catholic saints. There appears to be something deeperthan Christian doctrine -- something cultural rather than physiological --that accounts both for the cross-cultural pattern of female non-eating andfor our fascination with it. Alexandrina de Balazar, Karen Carpenter andCatherine of Siena have something in common after all.

    We do not yet know quite what this something is. But if we are to findout, I suggest that there is a model of how to proceed in Pina-Cabral'ssmall but excellent ethnography of a few hundred peasant households inPortugal.Getty Center for the Historyof Art and the Humanities401 Wilshire BoulevardSanta Monica CA 90401

    R E F E R E N C E SBel l Rudolph1985 Ho ly An orexia . Chicago: Un iversi ty of Chicag o Press.

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    Basic Books.1978 The Golden Cage: The Enigma of Anorexia Nervosa. Cambridge, Mass.: HarvardUniversi ty Press.1982 Anorexia Nervosa: Therapy and Theory. American Journal of Psychiatry 139.12:1531--38.Brumberg, Joan1986 Fasting Girls : Reflections on Writing the History of Anorexia Nervosa. nHistory and Research in Child Development, Monographs of the Society forResearch in Child Development. Alice Smuts and John Hagen, eds. Pp. 93--104.Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    1988 Fasting Girls: A Social and Cultural History of Anorexia Nervosa. Cambridge,Mass.: Harvard University Press, to appear.Bynum, Caroline Walker1984 Women Mystics and Eucharistic Devotion in the Thirteenth Century. Women sStudies 11: 179--214.1985 Fast, Feast and Flesh: The Religious Significance of Food to Medieval Women.Representations 11: 1--25.1987 Holy Feast and Holy Fast: The Religious Significance of Food to MedievalWomen. Berkeley: University of California Press.Chernin, Kim1981 The Obsession: Reflections on the Tyranny of Slenderness. New York: Harperand Row.1985 The Hungry Self: Women, Eating and Identity. New York: Times Books.Crisp, A. H., et al.1976 How Common is Anorexia Nervosa? A Prevalence Study. British Journal ofPsychiatry 128: 549--554.Duddle, May1973 An Increase in Anorexia Nervosa in the University Population. British Journal ofPsychiatry 123:711--712.Herlihy, David1978 Alienation in Medieval Culture and Society. n The Social History of Italy andWestern Europe, 700--1500. London: Variorum Reprints.Hoyenga, Katharine B. and K. T. Hoyenga1979 The Question of Sex Differences: Psychological, Cultural and Biological Issues.Appendix B: Sex Differences in Death, Disease and Diet. Pp. 372--390. Boston:Little, Brown.Le Goff, Jacques1980 Time, Work and Culture in the Middle Ages. Trans. A. Goldhammer. Chicago:University of Chicago Press.Ms. Magazine1983 Ms. Magazine, October 1983.Palazzoli, Mara Selvini1978 Self-Starvation: From Individual to Family Therapy in the Treatment of AnorexiaNervosa. Trans. A. Pomerans. New York: Aronson.Pater, Thomas1946 Miraculous Abstinence: A Study of One of the Extraordinary Mystical Phe-nomena. Catholic Universi ty of America Studies in Sacred Theology 100.Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press.

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    48 REVIEW ARTICLEPope, Harrison G., and James Hudson1984 New Hope for Binge Eaters: Advances in the Understanding and Treatment ofBulimia. New York: Harper and Row.Schadewaldt, H.1965 Medizingeschichtliche Betrachtungen zum Anorexia-Problem. n AnorexiaNervosa: Symposium 24./25. April 1965 in Goettingen. J.-E. Meyer and H.Feldmann, eds. Stuttgart: Thieme: 1--14.Schmitt, Jean-Claude1976 'Religion populaire' et culture folklorique. Annales: economies-societes-civilisa-tions 31: 941--953.Spignesi, Angelyn1983 Starving Women: A Psychology of Anorexia Nervosa. Dallas: Spring Publications.Thurston, Herbert1952 The Physical Phenomena of Mysticism. Chicago: Regnery.U.S. News and World Report

    1982 Anorexia: The Starving Disease Epidemic. U.S. News and World Report, August30, 1982: 47, 48.Van Engen, John1986 The Christian Middle Ages as an Historiographical Problem. American HistoricalReview 91: 519--552.Van Herik, Judith1984 Looking, Eating and Waiting in Simone Weil. n Mysticism, Nihilism, Feminism:New Critical Essays on the Anti-Theology of Simone Well. T. A. Idinopulos andJ. Z. Kopp, eds. Johnson City, TN: Institute of Social Sciences and the Arts.Venzky, Gabriele1982 Wenn Indiens Frauen Sati machen. Die Zeit, 29 October, 1982, p. 64.Waltner, Ann1987 T'an-yang-tzu and Wang Shih-chen: Visionary and Bureaucrat in the late Ming.Late Imperial China 8 (June 1987), forthcoming.work in progress T'an-yang-tzu: A Sixteenth-Century Mystic and Her World.Zapperi, Roberto1983 L'homme enceint: l'homme, la femme et le pouvoir. Trans. M.-A. Maire Vigueur.Paris: Presses universitaires de France.