Scientific event

This presentation shares the results of fieldwork conducted between March 2020 and January 2022 as part of a doctoral thesis. It examines the role and discourse of the fūndi, a traditional practitioner who employs "magico-Islamic" practices (Blanchy, 2007) to provide protection against the pandemic. The fact that the population of Réunion turns to fūndi for protection against the coronavirus underscores the value of anthropological analysis in epidemic response (Epelboin, 2009). The methodological approach is based on qualitative socio-anthropological fieldwork (Olivier de Sardan, 2008). The empirical data is derived from semi-structured interviews as well as direct and participant observations of collective and individual rituals within the fūndi community.