Taming the Wind of DesirePsychology, Medicine, and Aesthetics in Malay Shamanistic Performance

Psychology, medicine, and aesthetics in Malay shamanistic performance

Bibliographic Data

ID19969765
AuthorsCarol Laderman (corresponding author)
Year1991
Pages366
Publication date1991-05-22
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenueTaming the wind of desire (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherUniversity of California Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1525/california/9780520069169.001.0001
OpenAlexW2030619591
Open LibraryOL1877768M
ISBN9780520069169
GOOGLE_BOOK_IDNl4hjjvO3HYC
LanguageEN
Citations received61

Charged with restoring harmony and relieving pain, the Malay shaman places his patients in a trance and encourages them to express their talents, drives, personality traits—the “Inner Winds” of Malay medical lore—in a kind of performance. These healing ceremonies, formerly viewed by Western anthropologists as exotic curiosities, actually reveal complex multicultural origins and a unique indigenous medical tradition whose psychological content is remarkably relevant to contemporary Western concerns. Accepted as apprentice to a Malay shaman, the author of this book learned and recorded every aspect of the healing séance, and found it comparable in many ways to the traditional dramas of Southeast Asia and of other cultures such as ancient Greece, Japan, and India. The Malay séance is a total performance, complete with audience, stage, props, plot, music, and dance, and the players include the patient along with the shaman and his troupe. At the center of the drama are pivotal relationships—among people, between humans and spirits, and within the self. The best of the Malay shamans are superb poets, dramatists, and performers as well as effective healers of body and soul

Aesthetics · Appropriation · Archaeology · Art · Dance · Drama · Harmony (color) · Indigenous · Literature · Malay · Realm · Shamanism · Sociology · Soul · Trance · Visual arts · Anthropology · Architecture and Cultural Influences · Asian Studies and History · Education and Islamic Studies · History · Philosophy · Cultural Anthropology · East asia · General · History & Archaeology · Kampong Merchang · Malays (Asian people) · Manners and customs · Medicine · Medische aspecten · Psychologische aspecten · Psychology · Psychotherapy · Regions & Countries - Asia & the Middle East · Religion · Religion and Medicine · Religion and Psychology · Sjamanisme · Social life and customs · Terengganu · Traditional medicine

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