From Cauterization to Placebo )A Comparative Analysis of the Therapeutic Functions of Folk Beliefs in Houshang Moradi Kermani’s You Are No Stranger from the Perspective of Modern Medicin(
Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Lecturer Department of Persian Language and Literature, Isf.C., Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran.
2
Assistant professor Department of Persian Language and Literature, Isf.C., Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran.
10.48311/cfl.2026.117378.82830
Abstract
Folk healing beliefs are widely reflected in narrative literature. Prior to modern medicine, communities relied on local experience, rituals, and supernatural beliefs to confront illness. Focusing on Houshang Moradi Kermani’s autobiographical narrative You Are No Strange, this study compares traditional healing practices with modern medical knowledge. Rather than dismissing them merely as superstition, it explains their psychological, social, and cultural functions within their historical context. Drawing upon medical anthropology, health psychology, and the theory of the placebo effect, this study argues that rituals such as cauterization, the use of amulets, the burning of rue (Esfand), prayer-writing, fortune-telling, and warding off the evil eye operated as psychological coping mechanisms in the absence of modern clinical care. The findings demonstrate that despite their inherent risks, folk medical systems furnished a framework of hope, meaning, and social support elements from which modern medicine can potentially benefit.
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