Etnograficzny portret publiczności warszawskich wyścigów konnych
Ethnographic Portrait of Horse racing Audience in Warsaw

Summary/Abstract: The text contains a portrait of the regular horse racing audience on the Racetrack Służewiec in Warsaw. Based on the data collected during long-term ethnographic observation, a subculture of regular racegoers, their spatial and linguistic behaviors were characterized. Sensitizing categories derived from Erving Goffman’s theories allowed to expose the features of their behavior. Despite their unique cultural and demographic features, the racing audience has never been the subject of social scientists’ interest in Poland. The article presents a various planes on which a typology of contemporary regular visitors to Racetrack Służewiec can be outlined. The reference point were the ethnographic researches of Kate Fox in the United Kingdom and John Rosecrance in the United States of America. The axis of the text is a thesis that, in the present form, Racetrack Służewiec is a unique social niche that has been dominated by mostly older men who through ritualized and demanding engagement participate in gambling, find their subjectivity and sense of belonging.

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