MICHAEL G.

KENNY

LATAH: THE SYMBOLISM OF A PUTATIVE MENTAL DISORDER

"Latah: a mental disorder present in certain lower-class

women past middle age characterized by involuntary com-
pulsive utterance of obscenities, parodying of others' actions
or other socially or morally offensive behavior" (Home
1974: 332).

ABSTRACT. This paper examines the symbolic properties and cultural relevance oflatah, a
behavioral state noted in Malaya and Indonesia since the 19th Century. Most interpretations
of latah have been psychological, latah being perceived as a 'mental disorder.' In the
following, it is concluded that latith is intimately related to other aspects of Malayo-
Indonesian culture and that it is a well-known cultural pattern and not a mental disorder as
such, though it may occur among persons, largely women, in a socially and psychologically
marginal situation. Latah is a symbolic representation of marginality, and it is as appropriate
to certain mythological and religious figures as to the socially marginal.

This definition characterizes a behavior pattern found among some Malaysian

and Indonesian women and, in earlier times, among some (but fewer) men.
European observers with medical training, and others following them, have
concluded that latah is a mental disorder or disease. However, in this they differ
from Malays and Indonesians themselves who generally persist in regarding it as
an amusing eccentricity clearly distinguished from insanity and not w o r t h y of
referral to mental hospitals or traditional curets; "it is not looked upon as a
disease b y the Malays b u t as a personal peculiarity such as big feet" (Fletcher
1908: 254; cf. O'Brien 1883: 148; Gimlette 1897: 457; Yap 1952: 533; van der
Kroef 1958: 99; H. Geertz 1968: 95; Pfeiffer 1968: 35; Chiu 1972: 155). All
agree that the latah is capable of most practical tasks and that the condition is
only elicited under special social circumstances (O'Brien 1883: 148; Gimlette
1897: 457; Fletcher 1908: 254; Manson 1910: 7 6 7 - 6 8 ; Abraham 1912: 439;
van L o o n 1 9 2 6 - 7 : 442; H. Geertz 1968: 94; Chiu 1972: 155; Murphy 1976:
13).
The general interest o f this phenomenon resides in the fact that it seems to be
a culture-specific mental disorder restricted to Malaya and, at most, a few other
places. Latah has been assimilated to superficially similar conditions, also

Otlture, Medicine and Psychiatry 2 (1978) 209-231.All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 1978 by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland.
210 MICHAEL G. KENNY

involving involuntary obscenity or mimicry, in Siberia and elsewhere (Ellis 1897:

32; Manson 1910: 769; Czaplicka 1914: 321-25; Yap 1951: 318, 1952: 516,
1969: 38; Aberle 1952: 291; Honigmann 1954: 379; van der Kroef 1958: 99;
Barnouw 1963: 368; Wegrocki 1967: 696-97; H. Geertz 1968: 96; Winstedt
1969: 124); but so little is known about the latter, and little enough known
about latah itself, that any assertion of a fundamental similarity between them is
unjustifiable.
If latah is specific to Malayo-Indonesia, as I take it to be, the question which
then arises is that of the factors specific to this culture area which have led to it.
The answer to this is less than clear. A certain amount is known about the social
position of the latah. As the above definition indicates, it is mainly found among
older women who are at the menopause or past it (cf. van Loon 1926-7: 439;
Dentan 1968a: 138). It can be suggested as a provisional but reasonable
hypothesis that menopausal women of lower station experience certain
difficulties in these societies which may be conducive to mental disorder. In one
sense this is probably true; but such personal difficulties are scarcely restricted
to Malayo-Indonesia, and, while the personal problems of latah victims have a
certain universality, the 'symptoms' of latah remain obdurately specific. Why
latah? As steps toward an answer, the condition will first be more fully
described, and this followed by a more detailed examination of what is known
about those among whom it occurs.

2
It is generally agreed, both by Europeans and locals, that 'shock' or 'startle' is an
important precipitating factor of latah (Clifford 1898: 189; van Loon 1926-7:
439; Yap 1952: 537, 1969: 44; Abefle 1952: 292; van der Kroef 1958: 99;Firth
1967: 197; H. Geertz 1968: 94); this applies to the first onset of the condition
as well as to its subsequent recurrence. There is much obscurity about the nature
of the onset of latah in most of the described cases; what may be involved, in
addition to a specific shock or even instead of it, is the occurrence of certain
peculiar dreams and personal difficulties such as the death of a child or the onset
of menopause (Ellis 1897: 40; Wegrocki 1967: 696; Pfeiffer 1968: 37; Yap
1969: 44; Chiu 1972: 158). A shock, a death, or strange dreams are not
necessarily the immediate cause of latah; they may be the initiators of a general
disturbance in which latah behavior makes a slow appearance; and there are
some cases in which there is no obvious pathogenic factor at all.
Once established, latah is easy to elicit; specific outbursts of latah in a
susceptible person are commonly brought about by startling the victim in more
or less public company, and often quite deliberately for the sake of the
amusement which it provides (Neale 1884: 884; Ellis 1897: 33; Clifford 1898:
191; Fletcher 1908: 254; Manson 1910: 768; H. Geertz 1968: 95; Pfeiffer 1968:
35; Resner 1970: 376; Chiu 1972: 157). The latah person may be startled by a