Скачать или смотреть The Reversible Nature of the Leech: An Anthropological Inquiry

​This video summarizes a 2025 scientific paper from the Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, titled: "Who are leeches? Exploring malleability in human–leech relations through ethnographies from Dagestan and Turkey."

​Purpose:
The research introduces the concept of "malleability" to analyze the complex interactions between humans and leeches. It aims to explore how the physical flexibility and changing social roles of leeches shape human perceptions of them.

​Method:
The study is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2019 and 2024 among Dagestani healers, first in Dagestan and later in Turkey following their migration. The authors employed "immersive duo-ethnography," a method involving sensory and bodily participation, including applying leeches to their own bodies to understand the interaction at a non-verbal level.

​Findings:
The research presents two key findings facilitated by the "malleability" of leeches.

​First, The role of the leech in human perception is highly fluid. In one context, leeches are a "commodity," sold with price tags in jars. In another, they are "workers" or "medical devices" used for therapy. However, healers also treat them as "near-companions," admiring their beauty, calling them "my beauties," and speaking to them. This creates an ethical dilemma and cognitive dissonance regarding their disposal (e.g., flushing them down the toilet).

​Second, The physical flexibility of the leech directly shapes how humans interpret its behavior. The leech's "wobbly, slimy, or writhing" bodily movements are read as communication signals. These actions are interpreted as the leech "searching for dirty blood," "resisting treatment," or "cooperating." This communication is tactile and sensory, not verbal.

​Conclusion:
The study concludes that the answer to "Who is the leech?" is not fixed but is highly contextual. The concept of "malleability"—both physical and semantic—is central to this relationship. It allows the leech to be simultaneously a tool, a commodity, and an ethical subject, and it governs the non-verbal, sensory communication between them and humans.

This video is a summary of the original article and is reused under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) International License.

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-025-00...

Kaliszewska, I., & Kołodziejska, I. (2025). Who are leeches? Exploring malleability in human–leech relations through ethnographies from Dagestan and Turkey. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 21(49).
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