Geertz Summary

“We were intruders” begins Clifford Geertz in his anthropological study of the Balinese cockfight. He began with a narrative about his visit to a Balinese village with his wife. The villagers treated them as though they were invisible, merely spectators of their lives. It was not until they were part of a cockfight, a “celebrated phenomena”, that they became noticed in the community. It was there that Geertz saw the impact cockfighting on the Balinese culture.

           

            Cockfighting is not simply a battle between two Balinese livestock, but an identification of the owner. Although the Balinese are repulsed by animal-like behavior and punish those who act as so, their passion for their cocks can be extreme. He uses descriptive language to paint a picture of both the avid prepping of the cock and the scene at a cockfight including the ring where the fight is held and the bloody battle itself. Before the cockfight commences bets are made depending whether it is a “deep fight” or a “shallow fight.” Geertz disputes that the monetary aspect is not what drives the cockfight but rather the affect of the outcome on social status. It acts as a replication of the relationship between social groups. The Balinese will not bet against those of their own collective group which proves as a way to unify the village against outsiders. The main purpose of the cockfights is to allow for the Balinese to convey their aggression and competition spirits through a symbolic ritual. By doing so, the village men relay their “animal-like” tendencies on something more socially acceptable.

            The cockfight is an assembly of the Balinese performing a ritual which can be used to understand the Balinese culture. Geertz, as an anthropologist, uses this custom as a “text” to further decipher the social and cultural structure of Bali.

Geertz "Deep Play" Quote

"The madness has some less visible dimensions, however; because although it is true that cocks are symbolic expressions or magnifications of their owner's self, the narcissistic male ego writ out in Aesopian terms, they are also expressions-and rather more immediate ones-of what the Balinese regard as the direct inversion, aesthetically, morally, and metaphysically, of human status: animality."-page 61

I posted this quote mostly because I am a little bit confused by it's meaning. I believe it is important to the piece because it compares both the cocks and the owners to each other which is basically what this whole thing is about; cockfighting and the affects on the Balinese. I am confused because the next paragraph describes that the Balinese "revulsion against any behavior regarded as animal-like can hardly be overstressed." I took this to mean that the Balinese did not like the idea of people acting like animals. I thought the previous quote sounded like the cocks symbolize their owners and because cockfighting was such a large part of their culture that this would be taken as a good thing. I suppose I am reading this incorrectly so I would like to see what others think of this quote. 

OWS summary

The article “Ask Not What Occupy Wall Street Will Do Next; Ask How We Will Change The Status Quo” opens up with a comparison between where Occupy Wall Street is now and where it was a few months ago. The author explains that OWS movement’s publicity has died down immensely since the original movement at the end of last year. Fitzgerald counters his statement by saying the movement has come along away since it originated.

He uses multiple analogies to help express his idea of what OWS is such as comparing it to a “brand” or a “reality television show.”  The movement acts as a mean to motivate “consumption”, or the ability for others to believe in the ideas behind the identifiable movement regardless of its quality. He describes OWS as the 99% which represent the lower-class heroes and the 1% to be the controlling villains who are battled against with the use of rallies and Youtube videos. Fitzgerald believes that OWS should resist transforming from indefinable to something permanent and no longer up for debate, reification. OWS should lose its identity as a society and become a claim “that private interest is a public problem.” By this he means that although any adult (public aspect) can invest in stocks only the rich few (private aspect) hold the power in the market along with the most influence when it comes to Congress halls by means of lobbyists. Fitzgerald believes that the power held by the stock market should allow everyone to have a say in what goes on in it which was precisely what OWS was fighting for. He ends his piece by saying that although OWS continues to fight, Wall Street continues its daily routine without a change. We should anticipate the affects of publicity on the status quo rather than what OWS will do next in order to stop worrying about “it” and start talking about “us.”

With the grain, or Not with the grain: that is the question.

When reading with the grain, I attempt to see the writing the way the author intended it to be seen. Most of the time I read with the grain when it comes to novels or stories because I want to understand what the author's intentions are when developing the text. One example of this is when I read the Harry Potter series. Instead of trying to question Rowling's storyline or her use of language I wanted to see what she saw when she wrote the novels; I wanted to see the world just as she created it. I also read with the grain when I try to interpret the author's meaning behind his or her words. For example, when I interpreted Kanye West's Power I read with the grain in order to find the meaning behind the lyrics. I attempted to view the words from his point of view and gather information from other components of his life along with the words themselves.

Reading against the grain is when the reader tries to find flaws in the writing as in unsupported ideas, assumptions or simply just reasons as to why the author's idea is not necessarily correct to the reader. I tend to read against the grain when I am reading texts that are more controversial such as newspaper articles or articles online. In my ENC1101 class the class was to separated into two groups which were either for BP or against BP after the oil spill incident earlier that year. I read many articles that were against BP for what had occurred and some that thought it was not necessarily their fault. I was to read through these articles and read against the grain in order to support my stance on the case. In class we presented each of our cases as a debate and were then supposed to pick apart each others arguments and find things which were unsupported or inaccurate; again I read against the grain.

Strong Reading

Strong reading involves more than simply reading a passage, essay, novel, textbook, etc. It is the act of understanding what you have read and interpreting the meaning behind it. Highlighting, re-reading , and writing in the margin the things that you found difficult or worth reconsidering are ways to make yourself a stronger reader. Once you have read the words of the author, use your experiences as a person to make of the text as you will. I believe that to be a strong reader you need to take the time to read a passage once, twice, multiple times until you have completely grasped what you believe the author was trying to project. To be a strong reader involves work and the want to learn.