Body of Silence: Marginalized Health, Indigenous Knowledge and the Dynamics of Otherness

This study critically examines the intersection of health, marginalization, and otherness and calls into question how societies construct and represent "the other". Drawing inspiration from Tzvetan Todorov's reflections on "us and the others" and Zygmunt Bauman's concept of "remnants", the study explores the fundamental mechanisms that drive contemporary exclusion. The contemporary Western paradigm of individual self-determination frequently results in the marginalization of those perceived as different, either through disregard or direct dismissal of their symptoms. This practice contrasts markedly with the interdependence-based- based approach characteristic of ancestral animist traditions, where diversity is recognized as a fundamental principle of life, and multiple levels of perception are integrated into a broader cosmovision. However, when confronted with Western medical paradigms, this perspective is often lost in translation: pathologies become incommunicable and misunderstood, silencing the bodies. The bodies are silenced, and their totality transforms otherness into the unheard. The transdisciplinary approach undertaken in this study incorporates multiple perspectives. By examining key texts and concepts -including the profound interaction between biosphere, ethnosphere, and noosphere as described in studies on healing biospheres - the research shows how marginalization is created and perpetuated. The research draws parallels between Western paradigms and indigenous practices, exploring how the transmission of knowledge grounded in ecological and cultural interdependence can pave the way to justice and health. The study underscores the significance of recognizing indigenous ethnomedical traditions and knowledge systems within the context of contemporary priorities such as health and sustainability, emphasizing that the knowledge necessary to safeguard diversity remains accessible if it is acknowledged.