The War of the Words?

Abstract

This article is broadly concerned with the role that the sports press plays in the construction and representation of national identity and of identity politics. More specifically, it highlights the nature and form of media reporting within the German and English press during the 1996 European Football Championships, EURO 96. This is examined through the use of a quantitative content analysis supported and illustrated by qualitative discourse examples. The comparison of English and German print media is particularly relevant given the historical and contemporary rivalry, both sporting and political, that exists between the two nations. Past and present identity politics issues between England and Germany can be illuminated through this analysis. Attention is paid to whether national stereotyping, I/we images, established/outsider identities/relations, national habitus codes and Europeanization processes and politics were evident in the media coverage of EURO 96. It would appear that, in some countries, global sports are being used to reassert an intense form of national identity discourse in opposition to further European integration.

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