Round 1 of AFL has arrived, and with it the chance for fans to barrack for their teams. But what, specifically, are we referring to when we say “Carn the Blues” or “Go you Cats”?
What are these “Blues” and “Cats”? They are symbols. But what do they signify for the fan?
The fan does not affiliate with the thing the team is named after. Brisbane’s Bears became the Lions. Few deserted them – except, possibly, fans with lion phobias.
Nor do fans identify with the qualities of the thing.
Regardless of what the fans say, they don’t support the Bulldogs because bulldogs are gritty. Nor do the Dockers players actually work on the harbour.
Granted, if the Tigers record a healthy win, the headline might run “Tigers maul Dockers”. But, we don’t literally believe that some tigers escaped from a cage and mauled some harbour-side workers.
God-loving and fearing Joseph Gutnick worships the Demons not demons, while league fans don’t go Rabbitohs games expecting to buy bunny meat and fur.
The fan does not adhere to a place ether.
The Swans can move from South Melbourne to Sydney, the Western Bulldogs came from Footscray. Collingwood does not train or play in the suburb, and I don’t think many of the players reside locally.
Increasingly, supporters do not either.
Nor is the fan’s loyalty confined to a football team of 21-plus players and coaching staff. Even after the entire team has retired or been transferred, fans still support the Tigers.
In fact, the fans often have to remind players, coaches and others in the club that they are expendable. They just serve the greater thing which we support and love.
So what is this greater thing? Every simple possibility seems exhausted.
Totem and Clan
Let’s turn to a creator of modern sociology. French sociologist Emile Durkheim gets his answer from studying early anthropological reports about totemism in Central Australia.
Among ‘tribes’ like the Aranda or Warlpiri, social organisation is based around the clan. Members of, say, the Kangaroo clan, are related by having the same name and all are designated by a totem.
What is the totem?
Firstly, it is a group of people. If you bear the name kangaroo, you are part of the kangaroo clan, and have special relationships with rights and responsibilities to other clan members.
These are people descended from the kangaroo ancestor; a superhuman shape-changing man who lived in the Dreamtime.
Secondly, it is a word like ‘kangaroo’. If this was a clan, Durkheim thought members would be forbidden from even saying the name ‘kangaroo’.
Thirdly, it is the ‘thing’. It could be the animal, the actual kangaroo which hops around out there.
Again, clan members should not eat these.
Fourthly, it is a symbol or representation of the animal. A picture of a kangaroo might be found on a bullroarer.
This is a piece of wood or stone that, when attached to the end of a string and whirled around, makes a loud noise. This is very sacred.
In fact, all four things are sacred. And they are sacred because of the totemic principle; an anonymous force found in greater degrees in the totem (name, animal, the people and symbol).
In this example, we could call the totemic principle ‘kangaroo-ness’. Durkheim contended that people are not worshipping kangaroos; kangaroos are merely a symbol of the clan.
By worshipping the kangaroo, the clan is, in effect, worshipping itself.
Club and Fan
Turning to AFL, Durkheim would put it like this – a North Melbourne fan supports ‘kangaroo-ness’.
What is this kangaroo-ness? It does not at all adhere in physical qualities of hopping with long tail and eating grass; it bears no relation to kangaroos.
Rather, kangaroo-ness constitutes abstract quality.
It inheres in the club, players and support staff. It also adheres in the symbols: in the blue and white jumper and all such paraphernalia, the kangaroo shape and the song.
It also partly resides in the place, North Melbourne.
Thus when you support the Carlton Blues, you are supporting a name (Carlton Blues); the thing (the club that trains at Princes Park); a symbol (a letter “C” emblazoned on navy blue) and people (supporters and players).
The totemic principle ‘blue-ness’ resides in all.
Importantly, the supporters also believe it resides in them. And this belief, Durkheim argued, created a sense of social solidarity that was crucial for social interaction.
So there you have it. A Blues fan supports a ‘blue-ness’ that resides in everything associated with the club including, most importantly, the supporters.
It sounds clunky, but given the lack of a better explanation, I think we are forced to accept it.
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