Influenced
by Max Weber, Clifford Geertz believed that the core of culture was a set of
integrated moral values that satisfied the discrepancy between how the world
currently exists, and how the individual or society believes it should exist. Using
the process known as “Thick Description”, which is the process of interpreting
culture as text, Geertz attempted to determine how symbols and events were
utilized by a culture to symbolize and convey multiple messages about the world
around them and the social processes which encompass that world.
Geertz
wrote that culture is, “an historically transmitted pattern of
meanings embodied in symbols, a system of inherited conceptions expressed in
symbolic forms by means of which men communicate, perpetuate, and develop their
knowledge about and their attitudes toward life” (Wilks 2007). In Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight, Geertz applied the idea
that is the basis of symbolic anthropology, that attention should be applied to
the role of symbols and cultural practices in understanding community meaning.
Through
the cockfights, a status competition between individuals is
created in which the money lost or gained through betting is inconsequential,
but the prestige and status gained or lost is the most valued. By means of the
cockfights, hierarchical, and gendered rankings are established and attempted
to be overthrown. The cockfights are able to shape and direct the social and
cultural structure of the Balinese by directly injecting social and political
rivalry into the game. By
looking at the cockfights as a text, Geertz was able to determine the ultimate
meaning and role behind the cockfights and explain while the cockfights were
outlawed, they were still held regularly and attended by so many.
I think
Geertz has a good idea in that those words and activities that we use to
describe ourselves often have more meaning and importance than that what is used
to describe us externally. However, I think it can be problematic similar to
the epistemological perspective of Emic Behavioral proposed by Marvin Harris in
that people can develop a false consciousness and by talking about something that
may have deep symbolic meaning, misrepresent the meaning of the behavior or
activity to themselves and the ethnographer. Thus it is important to be able to
not only take an emic perspective, but at times take a step back and look
through an etic lens upon the cultural situation you, as the ethnographer, are
interpreting.
Although I
cannot think of a specific example that has similarities in our modern western
culture (perhaps someone else can think of one!), my mind immediately thought
of the use of the game of Buzkashi in Central Asia. I first learned about Buzkashi
in Dr. Folmar’s Anthropology 111: Peoples and Cultures of the World. This is a
game that could be described as being similar to polo as it is played on
horseback with the major difference being that instead of a ball and a bat,
players fight over a headless calf or goat carcass.
By hosting
a Buzkashi game, individuals are able to commemorate their cultural heritage,
as well as providing an arena through which political competition can occur,
much like during a cockfight. Hosting a Buzkashi event demonstrates the host’s
power and status in the community as hosting requires a significant amount of
time and money to coordinate all the needed supplies and to court favor with
others to attend. Additionally, it provides an arena for individuals to compete
and create status where there had previously not been.
Similar to
the cockfight, the game of Buzkashi, provides an opportunity to demonstrate and
discuss, in a subtle way, the social relationships that are evident in their
societies and the power struggle that exists daily.
Geertz, Clifford. "Notes on the Balinese
Cockfight" in The Interpretation of Cultures, Basic Books, 1973.
Wilk, Richard.
“Anthropologist Biographies – Geertz.” Indiana University Bloomington. Indiana
University Department of Anthropology. 2007. Web Accessed March 20, 2014. http://www.indiana.edu/~wanthro/theory_pages/Geertz.htm.
Great comparison! Next step would be to apply the approach of symbolic anthropology to interpret the Buzkashi ritual in further detail. HOW does the manipulation of symbols in the game relate to Buzkashi identity? How is the game a kind of narrative or performance of Buzkashi culture?
ReplyDeleteI think that the game is a very clear performance of Buzkashi masculine culture. The game is utilized to develop a man's political and social standing in the culture as well as re-establishing the social hierarchy established in the culture. The performance is very easily observed in that there is a ritualized process incorporated in every step of the game as well as in the regulated process that occurs in order to organize and schedule the game. In deciding who to invite to the festival associated with the game, individuals will come to a meeting from very far away. When these men sit down, they sit in a particular room along the walls in the order of their political standing. When a new person enters, the person right below them in political and social standing will move to provide space for the new individual. Thus, the regulated process by which the festival is organized contributes to the performance of the ultimate game itself, and like the cockfighting, highlights the power struggle in that particular culture.
ReplyDeleteThanks for giving us more detail!
ReplyDelete