Geertz, Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight Abstract PDF

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Geertz, Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight Abstract...

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Sheynna Weber Principles of Cultural Anthropology Dr. Jon McGee October 20, 2018

The roles and norms practiced during cockfighting provide a glimpse of what it means to be Balinese. Geertz stratified cockfights in Bali to help illustrate his unique interpretation of status and culture. Culture is what events and activities people engage themselves in as a whole, not what each individual thinks and feels. What they do is who they are, and what each person is willing to gamble to determines their individual status.

To study culture, one must be fluent in history and social science. Geertz says that anthropology is an “assemblage of texts” that we “read from those of whom they belong to” which means that we must learn the history of the locals from them personally, stratum by stratum. For example, when Geertz and his wife spent their first weeks in Bali, they were treated as mere gusts of wind. However, once they attended a cockfight that was raided by police, they decided to run from the police as well as the locals did. This iconic moment led to village-wide acceptance and the opportunity to study “texts” and experiences of the Balinese much more in-depth than if they remained outsiders.

Deep Play references how deeply symbolic these competitions are even though they are talked about as just “play.” Cocks are literally and metaphorically put against one another to fight. The cocks are an extension of the self, therefore when the cocks lose, their animal not only dies but their ego spirit is castrated. Animals are not favored in Bali, therefore its sheer irony that men worship something they hate. Cockfighting is a dramatic performance that unifies its people, either by remarkable tragedy or ecstatic gain. It is also a rare outlet among the meek Balinese that allows violence and raw emotion to be expressed, by both rich and poor.

Sheynna Weber Principles of Cultural Anthropology Dr. Jon McGee October 20, 2018...