"Latah", the Malayan hyperstartle pattern, has fascinated Western observers since the late nineteenth century and is widely regarded as a "culture-bound syndrome". Dr Winzeler critically reviews the literature on the subject, and presents new ethnographic information based on his own fieldwork in Malaya and Borneo. He considers the biological and psychological hypotheses that have been proposed to account for "latah", and explains the way in which local people understand it. Arguing that latah has specific social uses, he concludes that it is not generally appropriate to regard it as an "illness" or "syndrome".
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Introduction; Part I. The Problem of Latah: 1. The study of latah; 2. Latah, history and gender; 3. 'Latah' elsewhere; Part II. Latah, Society and Culture: 4. Latah in Kelantan: an overview; 5. Latah and Malay culture; 6. Symbolic meanings and social uses; Part III. Borneo Comparisons and Perspective: 7. Latah in Borneo; 8. Latah and the Iban; Part IV. Conclusions: 9. Explaining latah: paradigm and paradox, syndrome and ritual, nature and culture.
