The medicalization of the exotic: Latah as a colonialism‐bound “syndrome”

Abstract

Latah is typified as an involuntary culture‐bound syndrome that is almost exclusively confined to Malayo‐Indonesian cultures, involving exaggerated responses to startle. Severe cases typically respond with verbal insults, obscenities, mimicking the words and actions of others, and “automatic obedience,” with reports of serious injury or death to bystanders. All known legal and historical accounts of Malayo‐lndonesian latah are reviewed. There is neither a single firsthand account of a latah subject inflicting serious injury nor a recorded legal case describing the perpetration of a violent act. Neither participants nor onlookers appear to be distressed by paroxysms, nor do they seek patient status, supporting ethnographic accounts suggesting that latah is a deviant social role. Claims that latah is a local variant of a universal startle disorder that is shaped by cultural conditioning are criticized. It is concluded that latah is a uniquely Malayo‐lndonesian idiom.