Can I just substitute an interpretive dance in place of a list?

[phalangingle]

Although I am generally of the opinion that I would never be a member of a club that would have someone like me as a member, I decided to give this a try.

Comments

Re: Softball

[phalangingle]

I agree with most of this, but wouldn't characterize it as meaningless understanding of Balinese culture. It is problematic for Geertz to offer an aesthetic interpretation of the cockfight if his purpose is to describe the mental maps of the participants or to explain their practice. I don't think this is his purpose however. The critique that the interpretation becomes static and that it creates an abstraction and objectification of a changeable practice is valid. But if the purpose of the essay is to locate the Balinese cockfight in the imaginative universe of the cultural codes available in Bali, then the abstraction is not a fatal flaw for the essay. While signification of the cock fight surely means different things to different participants, that its meaning changes over time, and that symbols may be used and understood in differing ways from Geertz, the imaginative universe of symbols and narratives makes possible semiotic practices for (re)constructing the meaning of the cock fight.

The essay does not give us a sense of Bali culture, how the participants describe the cock fight when they are going about their day to day activities, when they are celebrating at a festival and reflecting on the significance of Bali culture, etc. The essay does, however, offer a picture of a wide range of symbols that can serve as semiotic resources.

Re: Softball

[doctorex]

Do you know Roseberry's critique of Geertz? If so, what do you think of it?

Re: Softball

[phalangingle]

I am not familiar with this critique.