Culture is a verb

The violence in "that" region called the Balkans is once again based on "that" myth called nationalism. As I read the news stories and blogs about what is happening, I think back to Bjelic's comment from the MUN panel, that we have two choices if we want peace: accept the status quo of borders as they are, or dismantle them entirely. Kosovo didn't accept theirs, but they didn't dismantle them, rather they built new ones. Now Serbia is rejecting this challenge to the status quo, so we have violence. Now I read on Yahoo! that Serbian football hooligans are joining the fight. I appreciate that they are assisting me with my thesis, but my stomach turns at reading such things...

...I want so badly for soccer to be a game of peace, of pleasure, and of understanding, but it has so much violence in it.

Been thinking a lot about how culture is a construction. It isn't rooted in hard biological fact; we are not who we are, on a cultural level, because of DNA, but because of what was put into our brain as we grew up. Education (in its many forms) and experience are the two obvious culprits who "produce" culture. This, in itself is not such a radical idea, but people often react as if it is. How else are you going to have an identity? It does challenge the notion of a free will however, and maybe that is why it is controversial.

If culture is constructed, then it can be deconstructed. This means it is not a real thing, but simply something we create in order to make sense of the world around us. In many ways it is unavoidable. The fact that nature can be deconstructed means it can evolve and change; it is an active thing, not a static one. We should treat it as thus and reject racist ideas (like the Huntington thesis) of cultural status quo.

How often have you hear people say things like "well, X is like that because they come from ... and that's just how they are there!" As if to suggest the person could never change, never come to a new identity. It is no different from Huntington suggesting that certain cultures are unable to achieve democracy "because that's just the way they are". Crap!

This is why I love watching Predictions of Fire and the work of NSK, they challenge culture to be full aware of itself. Their method is to perform the rituals of culture, national identity, etc., in a stylistic manor, thus confronting people with their own identities, thereby forcing a self-reflection. As Zizek said, they are not the answer, only the question.

Can soccer be such a mirror? Can it be held up to the public eye and force introspection? Can the rituals be a subversive critique of social life? I thought about these questions as I went through my warm up 'ritual' before last nights game. It was the first time I had been so aware that my actions were in fact ritualistic in nature. Here is how it unfolded:

1)undressing, taking of clothing, selecting the 'uniform' that I felt most attracted to. Yesterday it was last years MeMUNC shirt with the number 7. The dark color was what did it. I wanted people to ask about it. I put on the Adidas socks and pushed them down to my ankle. Then the shoes, I looked them over, loosened the laces and put them on. The final touch is my black Nike sweat band.

2)music. I put on my Ipod and searched for music. Started off with some Immortal Technique, then moved on to the Prodigy. All aggressive stuff. It always is when I warm up.

3)Gym. I hit the gym for 30-45 minuets as a warm up. nothing to hard, just streatching, some upper body stuff and 15 minuets on the bike. But its always the same routine.

Then I am ready. Ipod goes back into the locker, and I head upstairs to the pitch. I feel like a soccer player now, I walk different, I feel different. This ritual of new skin, agressive music, and physical movement changes my mentality.

Now I can hold the mirror up to myself, how can I turn it on those fans going to Kosovo to have a tear up?