There are moments when stories transcend geographic and culturally borders, and touch on something fundamentally and universally human. The persistent idea of changelings across Europe, and the ogbanje and abiku throughout Africa might be an example of that type of story. Join us this week as we examine the circumstances that might lead to believing your child has been replaced by an impostor from the spirit of fairy realm. From medical explanations to rare and nearly unbelievable psychological diagnoses, to the cultural needs created by unique circumstances this is a complex case full of twists and possibility. We will conclude by taking a look at a classic anthropological study on maternal love in Brazil’s shanty towns, and how things have changed there over the last 20 years.
Listen on iTunes
Nancy Scheper-Hughes Lecture:
Sources:
WOMEN WHO KILL THEIR INFANTS A BAD CASE OF ‘BABY BLUES’? – The Washington Post
‘Not my baby’: Delusion led to fatal throat slitting by mother
No More Angel Babies on the Alto do Cruzeiro | Natural History Magazine
Strange and Secret Peoples: Fairies and Victorian Consciousness By Carole G. Silver
Fairies and the Folklore of Disability: Changelings, Hybrids and the Solitary Fairy
Why Mothers Kill Their Babies – Time
Police: Woman Says She Killed Her Baby With Rock – Orlando Sentinel
That’s Not My Child: A Case of Capgras Syndrome – Psychiatric Times
Accounting for delusional misidentifications. H D Ellis, A W Young The British Journal of Psychiatry
Support Just A Story on Patreon
Just A Story Merchandise
Great episode
LikeLike