Bibliographic Resources

Lúcio Sousa, Keu Apoema, Vicente Paulino (eds.)

Timor-Leste is a country whose ethnolinguistic diversity has, among its foundations, a broad epistemological field of oral and ancestral knowledge, in which origin narratives constitute one of its key elements. These narratives, understood as ways of apprehending the visible and invisible world, present themselves as dynamic devices of interlocution and mediation between groups and Houses, both internally with those within, and externally with others from outside, thus serving as interpretive keys to understand and access local realities in their multiple dimensions, including the political realm. This book brings together articles by researchers from Timor-Leste, Brazil, Portugal, Spain, and Austria with the aim of presenting and discussing these narratives based on their dynamics of maintenance, circulation, and recreation, in dialogue with different historical scenarios constitutive of diverse community realities and the Nation. Divided into four main themes, the book addresses origin narratives in their relations with the House, their networks of alliance, and the territory; ritual practices and concepts of identity and belonging associated with them; the other, alterity, and, finally, the contemporary context itself in movements of continuity and reinvention.

Date: December 2020
Published by: Casa Apoema e Unidade de Produção de Pós- Graduação e Pesquisa da UNTL
ISBN: 978-65-00-14966-1

The following work elaborates on a bi-dimensional approach towards the world at large: through the gaze of anthropology and through the gaze of international relations. Beyond border relations do play a relevant role in our everyday more rapidly growing world, for which reason we must consider a complementarity between states and peoples social contexts for the construction of the processes of globalization. The proposal is that this takes places through ecumene projections for the building of international regionalism. Timor-Leste serves as a relevant case study for exploring this avenue through the dialogical process between the micro- and the macro, considering a continious interaction process between several meaning systems in the domain of negotiating social organizations.

Date: 2020
Dissertation for the degree of Master in Anthropology
Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas – Universidade de Lisboa

Available at: https://www.repository.utl.pt/handle/10400.5/20097

Over the years, a process of development of intercultural contacts has occurred in East Timor, both between Timorese belonging to different ethnic and language groups and between Timorese and other people, some of them being in a position of authority. Despite the changes occurred in society at various levels, some of its institutions and traditional values still remain. The investigation purpose of this study, which is of an ethnographic nature, is to describe and compare beliefs, attitudes and practices relating to reproductive health in respect of Timorese people belonging to different ethnic and language groups in East Timor, as well as to identify changes in the reproductive health behaviour of Timorese resulting from the contact between cultures. This study has an exploratory, descriptive and comparative character and the methodology used was of a qualitative nature. The field study was carried out in ten of the thirteen districts of East Timor, in rural and urban environments, and covered eleven ethnic and language groups. Data was collected from key informants, health professionals providing reproductive healthcare, traditional midwives and women and couples with children, through a snowball chain sampling procedure. The gathering of data was carried out by means of exploratory semi-structured interviews, direct and participant observation, and photographic and cinematographic observation. Content analysis was the procedure used for the analysis of the collected data. We concluded that culture has a strong influence on the behaviour of women and families from conception to the period after childbirth. There is a great ethnic and language / cultural diversity in East Timor and many beliefs and practices relating to reproductive health are not present in the whole country. The fertility rate is high and large families are generally preferred, with short intervals between births and little use of contraceptive methods. Despite the implementation of family planning programmes firstly by Indonesia and more recently by the Timorese government, many women do not have access to information and contraceptive methods. In turn, some factors of a social and cultural nature also have a great influence at this level. There are certain advices, taboos and restrictions relating to pregnant women, which aim at protecting the mother and the foetus from physical damage. The majority of women go to prenatal care appointments at healthcare institutions, but there are also many others who seek a traditional midwife when they have problems during pregnancy, so that she will verify whether the baby is in a good position and correct it if deemed necessary, or determine its gender. Home birth is generally preferred, the woman being usually assisted by relatives or by a traditional midwife. The postnatal period involves a series of procedures based on the home confinement of both mother and newborn, following certain recommendations and food restrictions, and the application of heat in various manners. Several traditional rituals associated with birth are still performed nowadays, with regional variations.

Date: 2012
PhD thesis in Psychology specializing in Intercultural Psychology
Universidade Aberta

Available at: https://repositorioaberto.uab.pt/handle/10400.2/2211