Book Reviews

• Published in: Bijdragen tot de taal-, land- en volkenkunde land- en volkenkunde, 1997, Vol.153 (2), p.284
• Main Authors: Boomgaard, Peter, Winzeler, Robert L, Borsboom, Ad, Coombs, H C, de Coppet, Daniel, Bryant, Raymond L, Boomgaard, P, Henley, David, Pluvier, Jan M, King, Victor T, Nico Schulte Nordholt, Han Knapen, Sellato, Bernard, Leirissa, R Z
• Format: Review
• Language: English
• Subjects: Asian studies; Culture; Ethnography; Islam; Mysticism; Society; Tourette syndrome
• ISSN: 0006-2294; 2213-4379

[...]I find it a bit strange that the author, while complaining that there are so few monographs on culture-bound syndromes (pp. 6-7), does not mention a fairly recent study on amok by Spores (John C. Spores, 1988, Running amok; An historical inquiry, Ohio University Monographs in International Studies Southeast Asia Series 82), the more so as many authors have postulated a connection between amok and latah. [...]the volume would have benefitted from a concluding chapter in which the editors discussed these central questions against the back- 288 Book Reviews ground of the contributions presented and suggested some further theoretical considerations and lines of research. [...]only six maps in the whole book are significantly concerned with nonpolitical aspects of society and history, and unfortunately several of these are of such doubtful quality that it would almost have been better if Pluvier had restricted himself exclusively to kings and battles. [...]1927 the leadership of this organization was in the hand of civilians such as A.L. Waworuntu, a former district head (hukum besar) and G.S.S.J. Ratulangi, an intellectual who later received a doctorate in physics.