Rezensionen 
(4 da ^ Vincanne, Mona Schrempf, and Sienna R. 
Medicine between Science and Religion. 
Bo ok ° ratl °n s on Tibetan Grounds. New York: Bergbahn 
ttioio : 201L 37 1 PP- ISBN 978-1-84545-758-7. (Episte- 
§ le s of Healing, 10) Price: £ 53.00 
ti 0ris ^ e( ^cine Between Science and Religion. Explora- 
c Usin ° n Tibetan Grounds” is an innovative collection fo 
ttio^ aroun d a theme highly relevant in contemporary 
trig lo ’ ^ at of engagement between knowledge accord 
ing | r W ^at can broadly be termed “science,” that emerg 
ere^ 0lri not ions of “religion,” and what can be discov- 
Pol ar dle interface of these two, too often considered 
Visites. According to its editorial aims (chap. 1), 
Sc ^°lar eCt '° n °P wor k contributes to a neglected area in 
tw Sb *P concerning biomedicine’s attempts to engage 
hvi 
n °n-W ( 
-w eeri e stern grounds, by documenting relations be- 
ea §a ge SClence ’ ntedicine, and religion and exploring their 
¡Ay [ n nient across geographical and cultural bounda- 
s o\ V(i d °ing so, the articles included here orient to a 
°f heav^ a sens ibility,” referring to the Tibetan “science 
c al ln § {sowa rigpa) at the heart of Tibetan medi- 
^ittaT^ and P rac tice as expounded in the “Gylishi,” its 
j n text - The authors in this volume attempt to dis- 
0r >i ec jj , r actions between Western medical science, or bi- 
l * v es ^ ne ’ and Tibetan medicine from Tibetan perspec- 
^ay ( r 1818 an admirable and innovative attempt to move 
^ e 4err| >ni ^Ihrcpoiogical ethnographic works taking a 
a Ppr 0 c °nceptual frame as starting point, towards an 
^ „ ln which it is rather Tibetan sensibilities that are 
%nv r0Unds u P on which to move, as indeed the col- 
Tij 1 S dde indicates. 
e editors have structured the chapters into four sec- 
% ’ each prefigured by an introduction clarifying its 
^tlijjyfPculai- rationale within the overarching themes 
’tig 7 ^ above. Part I situates the current debate surround- 
’P hi st etan medicine and its encounters with modernity 
°f bi 0 ° riCal contexts. Alex McKay’s tracing of the uptake 
Vie; cine in central Tibet (chap. 2) attests to Tibetan 
Mlu as historically syncretic and flexible in nature, 
c aily a incorporate biomedical technologies pragmati- 
^'P’ilari Wbere it made sense to do so in Tibetan terms. 
c ipe’ s . y ’ Martin Saxer’s detailed work on Tibetan medi 
al the Seminati on to Tsarist Russia (chap. 3) implies 
StinJ^pincai episteme of Tibetan medicine is able to 
betWeen heahng practices that are other and 
rate aspects of these on a pragmatic basis. The 
Perspectives in Part I provide foundation for the 
research in this book’s attempt to make sense of encoun 
ters between Tibetan medicine and biomedicine, situating 
them as it does in historical context of cross-fertilisation. 
Part II raises issues manifesting due to interaction be 
tween Tibetan medicine and biomedicine in contemporary 
situations. Stephan Kloos (chap. 4) argues convincing 
ly for Tibetan medicine, as practiced at its primary exile 
medical centre in Dharamsala, as engaging in legitimis 
ing strategies with Western scientific method and moder 
nity as part of its overall cultural preservation project, a 
project linked to notions of Tibetan identity. Vincanne Ad 
ams, Renchen Dhondup, and Phuoc V. Le (chap. 5) con 
tinue exploring such attempts at cultural preservation in 
Qinghai Province, on the Tibetan Plateau, where the prac 
tice of Tibetan medicine self-validates through recourse 
to the biomedical technologies practiced in tandem with 
it, as well as supplements its own practice with biomedi 
cal practices in modified form. Barbara Gerke (chap. 6) 
opens up debates surrounding the complexities of trans 
lation between medical and disease categories, arising as 
they do from contrasting cultural perspectives, and again 
shows Tibetan exile communities in India using biomedi 
cine to validate Tibetan medical diagnoses. 
Part III continues to explore the ways in which Tibetan 
medicine is used and interpreted by contemporary practi 
tioners, patients, and researchers, particularly in relation 
to religious aspects of practice. Mona Schrempf (chap. 7) 
uses the qualitatively opposed images of magical incanta 
tion, mantra, and syringe to illustrate the superficially dis 
tant poles between which Amdoan Tibetan communities 
on the Tibetan Plateau travel in seeking health care and 
engaging in healing practices. She presents movements 
between these poles as part of a cultural logic of heal 
ing which stands outside dualistic categorizations, such 
as medicine and religion or mind and body, and biomed 
ical technology correspondingly radically reformulated 
in Tibetan terms. Kim Gutschow (chap. 8), working in 
Zanskar, describes care during labour, birth and postnatal 
care according to both traditional and biomedical prac 
tices. Traditional practices include a complex series of 
rituals and imperatives relating to notions of birth pollu 
tion, which prevented the involvement of Tibetan doctors 
in the process. This is in conflict with the introduction of 
biomedical hospitals and their methods, which make birth 
a public rather than a private process, due to its médicali 
sation. Sienna R. Craig (chap. 9) raises pertinent trans 
lative issues relating to efficacy and legitimisation in an