In "Deep Play..." Clifford Geertz observes, and details for his American audience, the Balinese cockfighting community, one foreign to both Geertz and most readers, but one with rules and language very familiar to its practitioners. In other words, Geertz describes a discourse community for the benefit of those on the outside.
The discourse community, as defined by John Swales, must meet six criteria, all of which are can be found within the Balinese cockfighting community. First, a discourse community must have a common language, which for the Balinese cockfighting community is the Balinese language, but with certain idioms and mannerisms. For example, when one wants to bet against the grain, it is called mpura, which is also the word for "pardon me". Next, a discourse community must share behaviors, practices, and procedures. In the case of the Balinese cockfighters, these behaviors are firmly encoded in the community, with great offense taken if, for example, someone were to bet against a chicken of a friendly or local group. Thirdly, a discourse community has a uniform set of objectives, beliefs, and attitudes. Within the Balinese cockfighting community, these attitudes have everything to do with outward displays of masculinity, solidarity with peers, and social status. Further,a discourse community must have a common means of communication and common genres of literature, which in the case of Balinese cockfighters include ignoring, calling out gambling terms, the play in the cockfight itself, and various myths. Finally, a discourse community must share a common threshold for membership, which for the Balinese cockfighters is being a Balinese man of status, who participates in the procedures of the cockfight.
According to the text, all of this is considered moral because masculinity is tantamount to morality, and because it is a specific juxtaposition to the generally tame nature of of Balinese culture, which values humanity and despises bestiality. In a way, this is similar to any American sport, where men typically play to the exclusion of women, and often act more aggressively than is usually acceptable. However, there is less spiritual significance in American sports, and also less animal cruelty.
