Ethnography of Horse Racing Gamblers’ Lives. Constructing Biographical Narratives in the Process of Interviewing

Barbara Bossak-Herbst; Małgorzata Głowacka-Grajper

doi:10.18778/1733-8077.19.4.01

Authors

Barbara Bossak-Herbst University of Warsaw, Poland
Małgorzata Głowacka-Grajper University of Warsaw, Poland

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.19.4.01

Keywords:

Biographical Narratives, Emotions, Gambling, Horse Racing, Interview

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze the narrative strategies employed by horse racing gamblers in the context of their interactions within interviews. The empirical base consisted of 20 semi-structured interviews conducted with long-term regular gamblers from Warsaw, Poland. First, we state our position in the context of interviews with people aware they may be assessed negatively regarding a very important part of their lives. Second, we discuss how the interlocutors presented their biographies and employed discursive methods of protection against negative interpretation. The research reveals how bettors justify their passion by referring to individual myths about the origins of their interest in gambling. We reveal how bettors consciously employ emotive discursive methods that alleviate the discourse of addiction. Emotions are not presented as triggered by compulsively realized needs but as a result of intellectual passion, pursued by like-minded people joined by a drive for agency.

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Author Biographies

Barbara Bossak-Herbst, University of Warsaw, Poland

Barbara Bossak-Herbst is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Sociology at the University of Warsaw. Her interests include urban studies, visual culture, and multispecies relations. To date, she has published two books: Warszawska enklawa. Świat wyścigów konnych na Służewcu [Warsaw Enclave. The Social World of Horse Racing at Służewiec] (2020) and Antropolis. Współczesny Gdańsk w wymiarze symbolicznym [Antropolis. Contemporary Gdansk in a Symbolic Dimension] (2009). She publishes in Space and Culture, Memory Studies, Journal of Urban Affairs, and International Review for the Sociology of Sport journals. She is also the author of a feature-length ethnographic film on the social world of horse racing in Poland 450 Kilos of Dreams (2018).

Małgorzata Głowacka-Grajper, University of Warsaw, Poland

Małgorzata Głowacka-Grajper is a sociologist and social anthropologist. She works as an associate professor at the Faculty of Sociology at the University of Warsaw. She is the Head of the Department of Social Anthropology and Ethnic and Migration Studies. Her main research interests include the issues of contemporary national and ethnic identity, social memory, and research on the relationship between the local and national dimensions of memory. Currently, she is working on a project on the postcolonial perspective on imperial Russian heritage in Poland.

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