Sports in the Western World
- ISBN-10
- 0252060423
- ISBN-13
- 9780252060427
- Category
- History
- Pages
- 359
- Language
- English
- Published
- 1988
- Publisher
- University of Illinois Press
- Author
- William Joseph Baker
Description
Since the earliest days of the silent era, American filmmakers have been drawn to the visual spectacle of sports and their compelling narratives of conflict, triumph, and individual achievement. In Contesting Identities Aaron Baker examines how these cinematic representations of sports and athletes have evolved over time--from The Pinch Hitter and Buster Keaton's College to White Men Can't Jump, Jerry Maguire, and Girlfight. He focuses on how identities have been constructed and transcended in American society since the early twentieth century. Whether depicting team or individual sports, these films return to that most American of themes, the master narrative of self-reliance. Baker shows that even as sports films tackle socially constructed identities like class, race, ethnicity, sexuality, and gender, they ultimately underscore transcendence of these identities through self-reliance. Looking at films from almost every sporting genre--with a particular focus on movies about boxing, baseball, basketball, and football--Contesting Identities maps the complex cultural landscape depicted in American sports films and the ways in which stories about "subaltern" groups winning acceptance by the mainstream majority can serve to reinforce the values of that majority. In addition to discussing the genre's recurring dramatic tropes, from the populist prizefighter to the hot-headed rebel to the "manly" female athlete, Baker also looks at the social and cinematic impacts of real-life sports figures from Jackie Robinson and Babe Didrikson Zaharias to Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan.
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
The Allure of Sports in Western Culture
By John Zilcosky, Marlo Alexandra BurksSee, for example, the review of Fagan's book by Christian Mann, “Review of: Fagan, Garrett G. The Lure of the Arena. Social Psychology and the Crowd at the Roman Games. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011,” Nikephoros 24 (2011): ...
-
Wild Sports of the West: With Legendary Tales and Local Sketches
By W. H. MaxwellHardcover reprint of the original 1832 edition - beautifully bound in brown cloth covers featuring titles stamped in gold, 8vo - 6x9. No adjustments have been made to the original text, giving readers the full antiquarian experience.
-
East Plays West: Sport and the Cold War
By Stephen Wagg, David AndrewsThis collection of essays from leading international authorities on sport, culture and ideology brings together an impressive body of work organized around key political themes and outstanding moments in sport, and is at once a political ...
-
Wild Sports of the West
By William Hamilton MaxwellMany works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future.
-
Wild Sports and the Far West
By Frederick GerstaeckerReproduction of the original: Wild Sports and the Far West by Frederick Gerstaecker
-
Conshohocken and West Conshohocken Sports
By Jack Coll... West Third Avenue . The following year , more than 300 children turned out for tryouts ... baseball in Conshohocken on five ball fields at Mary Jane Sutcliffe Park . Little League Inc. still remains the largest youth sports program in the ...
-
Wild Sports in the Far West
By Frederick GerstaeckerDue to their age, these books may have missing pages or inferior quality. Our aim is to preserve these books and make them available to the public so that they do not get lost.
-
Wild Sports of the West
By W H MaxwellThis work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations.
-
Wild Sports of the West: With Legendary Tales and Local Sketches; Volume 1
By William Hamilton MaxwellThis work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations.
-
WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST
By W. H.This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.