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Dance is the Cure: The Arts as Metaphor for Healing in Kelantanese Malay Spirit Exorcisms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2014

Barbara S. Wright
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Extract

Spirit exorcism among Kelantanese Malays speaks as much to the mundane world of village society as to the world of the spirits. Within these exorcisms, called Main Peteri, dance serves both as a strategy for healing and a sign of health. Main Peteri dance is taken from other types of Kelantanese theatre, which together form a recognized complex of arts. Within the Main Peteri this complex represents Kelantanese society as a whole, and the patient's trance-dance, through which he participates in this complex, symbolizes his re-entry into society and reaffirms his status as a Kelantanese.

The psychological aspects of magical dance in Southeast Asia have been described in some detail, especially in regard to the dances of Bali (see Bateson and Mead 1942). Specifically pertaining to the Main Peteri, Raybeck (1974), Rosemary Firth (1966), Raymond Firth (1967), and Kessler (1976), have offered more sociological interpretations of the Main Peteri and its role in Kelantanese society. These anthropological analysts of Kelantanese life recognized the ability of the Main Peteri to deal with mental disorders particularly when caused by stressful situations.

Type
Articles
Information
Dance Research Journal , Volume 12 , Issue 2 , Spring/Summer 1980 , pp. 3 - 10
Copyright
Copyright © Congress on Research in Dance 1980

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References

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