This analysis explores weretiger symbolism in mak yong and ritual forms, indicating cultural relevance.
The Malayan tiger is critically endangered. Its population has declined from more than 3,000 individuals in the 1950s to fewer than 150 left in the forests of Malaysia today. While the tiger continues to disappear from Malaysian forests at an alarming rate, the weretiger remains an important symbol of liminality, ancestral heritage, ritual, horror, and raw animal power in the arts of Malaysia and the Riau Archipelago of Indonesia. Human-tiger entanglements are referenced in oral-historical narratives, the traditional theatrical forms of mak yong and nora Melayu, and the ritual healing performances of main ‘teri. However, the Malaysian fascination with the conflation of nature and culture, the animal, and the human, is not just confined to traditional dramatic forms and esoteric healing rituals. This paper will investigate the role of the weretiger and its links to history and healing in mak yong theatrical and ritual traditions and explore how the concept of hala, the weretiger continues to be invoked, reimagined, and recreated in popular genre like dikir barat and contemporary Malaysian film.
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