摘要：This article discusses the socio-political meanings of rugby union football in the Pa- cific Island state of Fiji. It argues that Fijian rugby is best understood as a cultural construction and a vehicle of symbolic communication which has the capacity to simultaneously divide and unite the country 's multi-ethnic society. Since its introduction to Fiji during the British colonial period, rugby has been almost exclusively played by indigenous Fijians and has become an integral part of the vaka i taukei ("the Fijian way of life"). Rugby enables Fijians to articulate and maintain regional and local social boundaries but, in the same time, it also promotes nation-building, by uniting members of different ethnic groups as fans and contributing to the establishment of a common "Fiji Islander" identity. Therefore, the socio-political aspects of Fijian rugby are manifold and mirror both the challenges and the potential of Fiji's multi- cultural society.
