Family care between two centuries: Granada and Jaén in testimonies of romantic travelers and costumbrist writers

Abstract

This study analyzes family practices related to health in Granada and Jaén in the period between centuries, from the 19th to the 20th. The approach is produced through the works of romantic travelers and costumbrist writers, who, in their exaltation of the local culture, provide very descriptive testimonies about the everyday world, showing customs and traditions used in the domestic environment for health care. The therapeutic options that the texts include range from the most institutionalized to a diversity of culturally inherited empi- rical knowledge. The comparative analysis of the sources shows the validity that a good part of that familiar knowledge continues to have in our daily life. In conclusion, the opportunity offered by the recovery, renovation and revaluation of the traditional knowledge testified in the sources to reinforce caregiving skills in contemporary families, as well as their cultural identity, is proposed.