Cockfighting: between folk media, ritual communication, and gambling

Abstract

Cockfighting is an ancestral tradition passed down through generations including the Sabu Raijua community in Indonesia, where it is considered a daily routine. Therefore, this research aimed to ascertain the construction of significance in cockfighting from the participant’s perspective and the motives for engaging in the tradition. An interpretive paradigm with a phenomenological method was adopted for this qualitative research. Deep interviews were used to obtain data and subsequently analysed using a six-step method according to the Cresswell model. The results showed that the community viewed the cockfighting ritual significance as a traditional communication tool, a part of cultural rituals, and a symbol of peace. Furthermore, the motives of the community to engage in this tradition included social inheritance, economic purpose, entertainment, building social networks, filling leisure time, the curiosity of losing a fight, and gambling addiction when bets were participatory. The community constructed cockfighting in two dimensions of significance, namely historical and philosophical. The motives of the participants in organizing cockfighting rituals were also grouped into two parts, namely "in-order-to" and "because" categories. The "in-order-to" motives referred to the hopes and fantasies of the participants before engaging in the ritual, while the "because" motives were related to past events that triggered the culmination of cockfighting. The actions of the community in conducting this ritual reflect the results of the significance constructed regarding the essence of cockfighting. This significance arises as a consequence of the social interaction process among community members concerning the symbols associated with the events.