Reading Log 1: Response to "Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight"

After reading about the Balinese cockfights, I find it impossible not to agree with the author, that the cockfights are an integral part and representation of Balinese culture. These people shelter themselves from the outside world but the cockfights shed light onto the value they put on hierarchy, loyalty, and respect of tradition.  As Geertz says, “it is a Balinese reading of a Balinese experience; a story they tell themselves about themselves” (10). After decades of oppression and poverty, the Balinese people hold onto these cockfights desperately as a way to maintain their culture and have something uniquely their own to control.

At first when I was reading, I thought the first part where the author described his initial experience of being isolated in the village and the second where he explains the cockfights were fairly unrelated and disconnected. However, upon closer inspection, I realized how truly connected they are. The Balinese are very private and do not take well to outsiders. The author and his wife had to prove themselves before they could be included. Similarly, in a cockfight lower class members are discarded to the outside of the circle and hardly acknowledged. It takes a large amount of work and social prestige to be accepted and included into the inner circles, especially the large cockfights. Another parallel can be seen in the loyalty these people feel to others who they consider their own. Once Geertz was accepted they would do almost anything for him, just as they are willing to sometimes place a losing bet to support their kin or village. I think this loyalty can be seen in other cultures as well. Protecting your own is a universal theme seen around the world from the beginning of human history.

In America an activity like this would never be possible. Our culture places the focus on more winning for the sake of money than the societal meaning behind it. Balinese people do not question the authority of the official overseeing the match. In American sports, coaches, players, and fans all constantly question and complain about calls. Overall, I thought the article provided an insight into a very different culture, that if not for the author’s instinctual cowardice to run from danger, many would not get the opportunity to learn about.