The Discursive Construction of National Identity in Media Sport

Media sport constitutes a significant arena within
which discourses about national identities are
continually articulated. This monograph analyses the
football commentaries of the matches in which the
Greece national football team competed during Euro

2004. Its focus is on the discursive means that the
      sportscasters deployed with a view to constructing a
      national identity that promoted unification and
      solidarity amongst the audience. In parallel, it
      explores how the representatives of this national
      collectivity, i.e. the footballers, their coach and
      the fans, were depicted. Adopting a discourse-
      historical framework (Reisigl and Wodak 2001; Wodak
      et al. 1999), it becomes evident that the
      sportscasters show great support for their home team
      forging points of identification with the audience.
      In doing so, they confirm the ideological power that
      media sport has in generating, reinforcing and
      disseminating national identities. The study will
      especially benefit students, instructors and
      researchers in discourse analysis, media studies, and
      sports sociology.

      Autorentext

      Mariza Georgalou holds a BA in English Studies from the University of Athens, Greece, and an MA (with Honours) in Language Studies from Lancaster University, UK. She conducts research on [new] media discourse, computer-mediated communication, multimodality and virtual ethnography. She works as a copy editor at PC Magazine (Greek edition).

      Klappentext

      Media sport constitutes a significant arena within which discourses about national identities are continually articulated. This monograph analyses the football commentaries of the matches in which the Greece national football team competed during Euro 2004. Its focus is on the discursive means that the sportscasters deployed with a view to constructing a national identity that promoted unification and solidarity amongst the audience. In parallel, it explores how the representatives of this national collectivity, i.e. the footballers, their coach and the fans, were depicted. Adopting a discourse-historical framework (Reisigl and Wodak 2001; Wodak et al. 1999), it becomes evident that the sportscasters show great support for their home team forging points of identification with the audience. In doing so, they confirm the ideological power that media sport has in generating, reinforcing and disseminating national identities. The study will especially benefit students, instructors and researchers in discourse analysis, media studies, and sports sociology.