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Looking Islam in the Teeth: The Social Life of a Somali Toothbrush
Author(s) -
Laird Lance D.,
Barnes Linda L.,
HunterAdams Jo,
Cochran Jennifer,
Geltman Paul L.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
medical anthropology quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.855
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1548-1387
pISSN - 0745-5194
DOI - 10.1111/maq.12196
Subject(s) - somali , islam , homeland , inscribed figure , refugee , toothbrush , sociology , dentistry , gender studies , media studies , history , political science , medicine , engineering , archaeology , law , philosophy , linguistics , geometry , mathematics , brush , electrical engineering , politics
The Arabic miswak (Somali, adayge ) is a tooth‐cleaning stick from the Salvadora persica plant. In this article, we trace the social life of a “thing,” examining meanings inscribed in the stick brush, drawing on interviews with 82 Somali refugees in Massachusetts and an analysis of local and transnational science and marketing. The miswak toothbrush symbolizes relationships to nature, homeland culture, global Islam, globalizing dental medicine, and the divine as it intersects with the lives of producers, marketers, distributors, and users, creating hybrid cultural forms in new contexts.