The ethnobotany of Eden : rethinking the jungle medicine narrative / Robert A. Voeks.

9780226547855 (ebook) :

Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, 2019.

1 online resource : illustrations (black and white).

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In the 1980s, scientists and environmentalists sounded the alarm that deforestation was decimating the world's tropical rainforests. Among the protection strategies that emerged, none resonated more with the general public than the notion that these threatened landscapes represented storehouses of drug plants for the battle against our most pernicious diseases. The resultant 'jungle medicine narrative' developed around a series of assumptions regarding nature and culture in the tropical realm, some grounded in scientific theory, others the products of ancient prejudices and preconceptions. This text explores the origin and evolution of the various elements in this narrative, including the deployment of the pristine nature of tropical forested landscapes, and the romanticized forest-dweller archetype.

Print version :

Books / Online

English

February 12, 2019

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Specialized.