Marion Zimmermann – författare

Seminar paper from the year 2001 in the subject Ethnology / Cultural Anthropology, grade: 2 (B), University of Heidelberg (South Asian Ethnology Institute), course: Medicine Ethnology II: Health in South Asian Culture, language: English, abstract: "e;Medicine means the prevention of physical illness; medicine means the prevention of mental illness;prevention means to avert illness; medicine therefore is the prevention of death."e;This quotation is an interesting definition of medicine by Tirumular - one of the greatest and earliest Tamil Siddha. The Tamil Siddhas so a lot of authors assume have invented or developed the Tamil medical system named Siddha medicine. Till today this medical system exists totally unknown in India with a few geographical exceptions in the South - next to the popular Ayurveda medical system. The Siddha medicine is to find in the present time only in Tamilnadu and in a few parts of Kerala. There is a bulk of works on Siddha medicine exclusive in the Tamil language. A lot of these works are not yet studied, because of their secretive and symbolic language, their partially bad conditions and their difficult accessibility. Many questions about this system cannot be answered, yet. Till today it is not clear when and where the Siddha medicine exactly originated, why it was invented or developped, at all, and why it has not become as popular as Ayurveda. In this work I will explain in a very generalized form what the notion siddha means and what person a Siddha is like. I will try to find out when the Siddha medicine was developped, and I will give a short introduction of the fundamental principles of the Siddha medicine. Then I will show some problems of the Siddha medicine, and therefore why it could not be as popular as the Ayurveda system. Further I will give possible answers why the Tamil system was invented or developed, at all, and I will compare the Siddha medicine with the Ayurveda to show which of these two systems is probably the older one. At least, I will give an image of the situation in the present time. I will not explain the Siddha groups and several medical features of Siddha medicine in detail. The subject is too far-reaching and complicated to go into details in this work. The subject can only be broached and is presented in a very generalized form.

Seminar paper from the year 1998 in the subject Ethnology / Cultural Anthropology, grade: 2,5 (B), University of Heidelberg (Ethnology South Asiean Institute), course: Tourism and Nation-building in the South Pacific, language: English, abstract: In the 1970s the aim of the new Indonesians government was to lead the diverse, multicultural state to a national unity. This was a difficult task for which good ideas were necessary. By promoting tourism the government devised the most successful solution to approximate the aim of unity. Now, the government overlooked the historical ethnic boundaries and cultural and religious differences of some ethnic groups in Indonesia. Therefore some problems arised which must be seen as a threat for the national unity. In this homework I try to show which positive and negative effects the governments efforts had by promoting provincial identities as tourist destinations. I will show mainly the negative results of the governments tourist campaigns with the example of Toraja in South Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Seminar paper from the year 2002 in the subject Ethnology / Cultural Anthropology, grade: 2,3, University of Heidelberg (Sudasien Institut, Abteilung Ethnologie), course: Gender, Gesundheit und Politik in Sudasien, language: English, abstract: Suicide is the intentional destruction of one's own life. The most people who commit suicide do it with the hope for rescue, because in reality they don't want die. This self-destroying act is rather a cry for help and a desperate attempt to change hopeless situtations. Only less of all suicides happen deliberate without chance for help. In general men use harder methods to kill themselves than women, e.g. very often men shoot or hang themselves and women use more likely an overdose of sleeping pills (Digel, Werner (Hg.), Kwiatkowski, Gerhart (Hg.) 1987: 96). This informations would stand for that men are more determined to die definite than women who more likely hope for rescue. Indeed the rate of suicide committed by men is in the most countries in general higher than that of women (www : WHO 2001 b). The general causes of suicide and high- risk groups are mostly aged people, divorced, unemployed, social isolated, addict (especially alcoholics), psychically unbalanced and those who already attempted suicide in the past. Problems of women are often lovesickness, marital and family conflicts, problems of men are economic and social (especially professional) difficulties. The best prevention against suicides is the support of social relationships and organizations, which should be accessible for all people who need help (Digel, Werner (Hg.), Kwiatkowski, Gerhart (Hg.) 1987: 96). In the following chapters I descibe different kind of suicide in India. After general informations about suicide, I explain suicide in the context of religion, politic and society. Therefore I make following categories: a) religious suicide, b) political suicide, and c) social suicide. The chapter about social suicide is more detailed. Social suicide is seen as a public health problem. Positive changes can be achieved through prevention and care programs which I deal with at the end of this essay. I will not make a detailed comparing between India and other countries. I make no specific separation or detailed comparing between different groups, like young-old, men-women, different castes, different social strata, etc. My informations are hold very general.