Beyond 'Media Culture': Sports as Dispersed Symbolic Activity

Blain, Neil

doi:10.1080/911094211

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Sport funkcionira kao simbolički resurs za izgradnju kolektivnoga identiteta (Blain, 2002). Izgradnja nacionalnoga identiteta kroz sport ima dva aspekta: a) svakodnevna i proceduralna razina upotrebom nacionalnih simbola, sudjelovanje u međunarodnim natjecanjima, cikličko odvijanje domaće lige itd.…”

Section: Sports and The Cityunclassified

See 1 more Smart Citation

Sport in the urban landscape of Zagreb and Split

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper examines sports, cultural, historical, and urban geography to analyse hodonyms (names of streets and squares) and ergonyms (names of hospitality establishments) located in the proximity of sports centres. The research examines whether there is a link between the hodonyms and ergonyms associated with sports and the location of sports facilities. The starting point of this research was the assumption that spatial proximity influences the motivation for naming streets, squares, and hospitality establishments. Accordingly, this paper approaches the concept of sports in the urban landscape from a spatial aspect. Case studies were conducted in the two largest cities of the Republic of Croatia: the capital city Zagreb, and Split. The main methodological approach used in the analysis of data was statistical and interpretative. The research showed that there is a degree of association between hodonyms and ergonyms and the location of sports facilities. Sports transform and shape the urban landscape, not only the sports landscape (in the form of infrastructure), but also other parts of the city.

show abstract

Section: Sports and The Cityunclassified

“…Sports function as a symbolic resource for building collective identity (Blain, 2002). Construction of national identity through sports has two aspects: a) daily and procedural level through the use of national symbols, participation in international competitions, rounds of domestic leagues, etc.…”

Section: Sports and The Citymentioning

confidence: 99%

Sport in the urban landscape of Zagreb and Split

2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The discourse of sport and sports players as a social group is starting to attract interest from researchers in linguistics and allied fields (Beard, 1998; Bernstein and Blain, 2002; Blain, 2002; Chovanec, 2005, 2008; Clark, 2011; Dreyfus and Jones, 2010; Lines, 2001). A thread of this research has explored sports registers and genres (Bruce, 2004; Caldwell, 2009; Chovanec, 2009; Ferguson, 1983; File, 2012, 2013; Ghadessy, 1988; Kuiper and Lewis, 2013; Lewandowski, 2012; Montgomery, 2010; Perez-Sabater et al, 2008; Reaser, 2003).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The strategic enactment of a media identity by professional team sports players

File

2015

Discourse & Communication

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article explores the discursive behaviour of professional male team sports players in postmatch interviews from a social identity construction perspective. Drawing on a data set of 160 televised post-match interviews from two different team sports and two different regions of the world, this article identifies stances players orient to when presenting themselves in these media interviews. A supplementary data set of ethnographic semi-structured interviews with professional team sports players is also used to develop insider perspectives on the discursive behaviour of professional team sports players when speaking to the media. What is argued is that the acts and stances employed by team sports players can be interpreted as indexing a media self, or media identity, one that professional team sports players construct in order to strategically negotiate a public version of self that presents them positively to their audience and maintains their relationships with other members of their team.

show abstract

“…Stemple (1981: 119) explains that content analysis is 'a formal system for doing something that we all do informally rather frequently' with various techniques available to the researcher (David and Sutton, 2011;Silverman, 2003). Previous content and discourse analyses of media coverage have identified their role in agenda-setting (Blain, 2003;Wanta, 2008), with quantitative and qualitative approaches showing gender and racial biases in media coverage (Bishop, 2007;Kian et al, 2009;King, 2007;Mackay, 2012;Messner et al, 2000;Millward, 2008;Vincent, 2004;Vincent et al, 2002Vincent et al, , 2010.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Representations of sport in the revolutionary socialist press in Britain, 1988–2012

Dart

2013

International Review for the Sociology of Sport

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper considers how sport presents a dualism to those on the far left of the political spectrum. A long-standing, passionate debate has existed on the contradictory role played by sport, polarised between those who reject it as a bourgeois capitalist plague and those who argue for its reclamation and reformation. A case study is offered of a political party that has consistently used revolutionary Marxism as the basis for its activity and how this party, the largest in Britain, addresses sport in its publications. The study draws on empirical data to illustrate this debate by reporting findings from three socialist publications. When sport did feature it was often in relation to high profile sporting events with a critical tone adopted and typically focused on issues of commodification, exploitation and alienation of athletes and supporters. However, readers' letters, printed in the same publications, revealed how this interpretation was not universally accepted, thus illustrating the contradictory nature of sport for those on the far left.Keywords: capitalism, Marxism, socialism, Socialist Workers Party, working class IntroductionA long-standing, passionate debate over sport has existed amongst those on the revolutionary left, polarised between those who reject sport as a bourgeois capitalist plague and those who seek to enjoy sport sui generis and/or seek to use it to advance socialist ideas. A popular perception exists which sees the revolutionary left dismiss sport as a site of, and for, excessive nationalism, sexism, racism, homophobia and class bias; yet, there is another perspective which argues for the reclamation and reformation of sport. However, until now, much of the debate has been based on abstract theory and lacking reference to empirical data. This study seeks to correct this by offering an empirical informed discussion on how sport is viewed by the largest party on the revolutionary left in contemporary Britain.The paper focuses on a political party that has consistently used revolutionary Marxist ideology as a basis for its activity. A content and discourse analysis of three socialist publications, over a 30 year period, tracks the level and nature of sports-themed coverage. The empirical material is then used to inform a discussion between those who reject sport and those who seek to reform it. With interest in the relationship between capitalism and sport continuing to attract academic attention (see Boykoff, 2013;Collins, 2013;Lavalette, 2013), this paper identifies an organisation that has, unapologetically, consistently focused on the politics of class and, resisting the turn to culture, postmodernism or identity politics, remained firmly within the tradition of class-based, revolutionary Marxism. It begins with an assessment of the academic and popular literature representing the different leftist positions towards sport. The British Socialist Workers Party (SWP) is then located on the political spectrum before identifying the data sources and methods used. A series of vignet...

show abstract

Beyond 'Media Culture': Sports as Dispersed Symbolic Activity

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

Sport in the urban landscape of Zagreb and Split

Sport in the urban landscape of Zagreb and Split

The strategic enactment of a media identity by professional team sports players

Representations of sport in the revolutionary socialist press in Britain, 1988–2012

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About