Sport and the ‘national Thing’: exploring sport’s emotive significance

BLACK, Jack (2024). Sport and the ‘national Thing’: exploring sport’s emotive significance. In: WHIGHAM, Stuart, (ed.) Sport and Nationalism: Theoretical Perspectives. Sport in the Global Society – Contemporary Perspectives . London, Routledge, 118-132.

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Abstract

This chapter critically details how the work of Slavoj Žižek theoretically elaborates on the links between nationalism and sport. Notably, it highlights how key terms, drawn from Žižek’s work on fantasy, ideology and the Real (itself grounded in the work of Jacques Lacan), can be used to explore the relationship between sport, nationalism and enjoyment (jouissance). In outlining this approach, specific attention is given to Žižek’s account of the ‘national Thing’. Accordingly, by considering the various ways in which sport organizes, materializes and structures our enjoyment, the emotive significance of sport during national sporting occasions is both introduced and applied. Moreover, it is argued that such an approach offers a unique and valuable insight into the relationship between sport and nationalism, as well as an array of social and political antagonisms.

Item Type:	Book Section
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Centre for Sport and Exercise Science; Sport Industry Research Centre; Sociology, Politics and Policy Research Group; Cultural Communication and Computing Research Institute; Humanities Research Centre; Department of Sport; Department of Media Arts and Communication; Department of Psychology, Sociology and Politics; Department of Humanities
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.4324/9781032680163
Page Range:	118-132
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Elements
Depositing User:	Symplectic Elements
Date Deposited:	12 Dec 2023 16:25
Last Modified:	20 Feb 2024 14:15
URI:	https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/32878

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