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Latah II — Problems with a Purely Symbolic Interpretation

A Reply to Michael Kenny

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The Culture-Bound Syndromes

Part of the book series: Culture, Illness, and Healing ((CIHE,volume 7))

Abstract

It began when my mother died. I was very sad. I was sitting quietly like this, thinking ‘my mother is gone’. Someone came from behind. He grabbed me and said, ‘What’s up!’ I was startled! My body trembled like this. My mind went blank. When my body stopped trembling he again suddenly poked me in the ribs. I picked up a stick and hit him. I couldn’t think — what could I know? Later, wherever I went, people liked to watch me. They thought I was just pretending. They startled me with pokes in the ribs over and over again until I became ill. — Hajjah Misah Bani, a Latah

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© 1983 D. Reidel Publishing Company

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Siomons, R.C. (1983). Latah II — Problems with a Purely Symbolic Interpretation. In: Simons, R.C., Hughes, C.C. (eds) The Culture-Bound Syndromes. Culture, Illness, and Healing, vol 7. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5251-5_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5251-5_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-277-1859-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-5251-5

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