Spanish Identities
Spanish Identities in the European Media: The Case of Football Writing
In the twenty first century, the debate over Spanish identity is as vibrant as ever. Many ideas about Spanish identities are communicated by the sports pages of newspapers in Spain and throughout Europe. Both 'qualities' and 'tabloids' are devoting more space to sport and, in particular, to football, the world's most popular game. How, then, does the discourse of European football writing contribute to the representation of Spain and Spanish identities? Recent football match reports and articles from a selection of Spanish, French and British 'quality' newspapers are analysed in this study, co-conducted with Liz Crolley, with a view to identifying the principal elements in the representation and construction of Spanish identities. The discourse of football writing examined reveals perceptions of Spanish society which are commonly held inside and outside Spain itself and demonstrates the clear relationship between football and society as mediated by Europe's 'quality' press. A detailed examination of the press in Britain and France, then, leads to the conclusion that many of the themes, characteristics and stereotypes about Spanish identities found in the British and French press are shared by Spanish writers themselves. However in the Spanish press more intricate, even contradictory, representations are illustrated which demonstrate the complexity and fluidity of the concept of Spanish identity in the new millennium.
Un Espagnol peut en cacher un autre.