Mal Uocchiu Ambiguity Evil Eye

The Evil Eye Has Received Considerable Attention in scholarly literature from disciplines as diverse as anthropology and medicine. Much of this literature attempts to identify and explain the phenomenon in a number of ways -- culture-bound syndrome, idiom of distress, social control mechanism, and representation of psychobiological fear -- generalizing what is an ambiguous, vague, and variable occurrence. In Mal'uocchiu: Ambiguity, Evil Eye, and the Language of Distress, Sam Migliore shifts the focus of discussion from vast paradigms to a practical examination of how people make use of the notion of the evil eye in a variety of socio-cultural contexts, concentrating in particular on various aspects of Sicilian-Canadian culture and experience.

Using the works of Luigi Pirandello and Ludwig Wittgenstein, Migliore argues that mal'uocchiu, and by implication other folk constructs, are like characters in search of an author to give them 'form' or 'meaning.' The book begins by considering the indeterminate nature of the evil eye complex. Migliore proposes that this indeterminacy allows people to make sense of their personal experiences and to create a potentially infinite set of alternative meanings and messages to define those experiences. He then examines the phenomenon's relationship to Sicilian-Canadian conceptions of health and illness, and discusses treatment strategies and prevention. The author blends context setting, case studies, personal recollection, and interpretation throughout to provide readers with an accessible, alternative look at the variable nature of this folk tradition.

Mal'uocchiu, Migliore argues, is simultaneously something, nothing, and one hundred thousanddifferent things. It is a concept that can be modified and changed in the process of social and self-reflexive interaction. Migliore's study of the Sicilian-Canadian community's relationship to the concept of the evil eye is enriched by his position as an anthropologist and a community 'insider.' It will be essential reading for students of medical anthropology, religion, and ethnic studies.