The Balinese people: a reinvestigation of character

Abstract

Published exactly 50 years after Gregory Bateson's and Margaret Mead's Character (which still stands as a standard reference on Balinese culture), this study of the Balinese people - a collaboration between a Western psychiatrist with wide experience of Balinese culture and a Western-trained Balinese psychiatrist - finds their basic assumptions inherently flawed. The study concludes that their book presents an inaccurate and misleading characterization of the Balinese as they were 50 years ago. In addition to this critique, the authors present their alternative formulations of psychosocial aspects of Balinese culture, their aim being to establish a more correct and valid portrayal of the life of the Balinese.

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