The Cultural Context of Emotion: Folk Psychology in West Sumatra (Culture, Mind and Society)

Describing the second stage of Karl G. Heider’s exploration of emotion as understood by the Minangkabau – a matrilineal, Moslem society of West Sumatra, Indonesia – this book uses semi-structured interviews with focus groups and individuals to allow emotions to lead us into the broader realm of Minangkabau folk psychology. Minangkabau have long been considered the intellectuals of Indonesia, and not surprisingly turn out to be deeply concerned with intelligences, with controlling one’s own emotions, and with discerning the emotions of others. This fascinating work solidifies the situation of emotions at the center of investigation as a powerful ethnographic strategy.