CHAPTER TWO
Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
This chapter provides background information on the research topic. The first section provides a general overview of the anthropology of sports with sub-headings of anthropologists and their contributions to the study of sport and the body in the anthropology of sport. The second section provides a description of sport studies. The third section of the chapter sheds light on the meaning and application of sport. The fourth heading provides literature on relevant subjects to the anthropology of sports and sport studies. Finally, the fifth heading provides concluding thoughts for the chapter.
2.2 General Overview of the Anthropology of Sports
The anthropology of sport refers to “the application
…show more content…
Adopting an anthropological questions, researchers frame fundamental questions around a wide range of theoretical models (Coakley and Dunning 2004:150). Researchers in the anthropology of sport tend to employ a distinctive framework within which to address among other things, specialised problems like gender and sport, sport and ritual, and violence in human society (Blanchard 1995:23). The anthropology of sport is primarily a behavioral science closely related to cultural anthropology (Blanchard 1995:23) and tied to the knowledge that sport is an institution and a component of culture (Coakley and Dunning 2000:151). Cultural anthropologists believe that play, sports, and physical activity are universal features of cultures, past and present. Following this rationale, the study of sport should enable researchers to access the quality and nature of social problems of particular cultures (Blanchard 1995; Chandler et al …show more content…
Tylor (1832-1917) was an evolutionist preoccupied with knowing the origins of things, and finding out the first examples of major attributes or traits (Gale 2008). He believed that sport could provide clues about prehistoric culture contact (Blanchard 1995:9-10).
Before the 1950s, sports researchers made important anthropological contributions. They wrote about sport among small scale societies, and pre-literate people. During this period, there were few occasions that articles on sport appeared in anthropology journals (Blanchard 1995; Chandler et al 2007). Early researchers in the field like Stewart Culin in1907 (also referred to as the “game scholar… in the field of anthropology,”) published his work titled Games of the North American Indians, in the the Bereau of American Ethnology. His work was published by Government Printing Office in Washinton D.C. (Dyck 2004). Karl Wuele in 1925 (a German scholar who did an ethnologic study of the origin and development of sports) had his work published in the Oceania journal (Coakley and Dunning 2002:146; Blanchard 1995:14). Other published works include Raymond Firth’s (1931) study of A Dart Match in Tikopia, his work was published in the Oceania (Dyck 2004). Lesser’s (1933) work
In Introduction to the Philosophy of Sport, Heather L. Reid presents a discussion of how ethics is treated in the arena of Olympism and some of the struggles of defining and how or if the ethical guidelines should be enforced. Reid notes, “Some would say that ethical principles are always the product of a particular culture, so there can no more be universal ethical principles than there can be a universal culture” (Reid, 22). I disagree with the notion that there cannot be universal ethical principles for athletes to follow in sport because even across cultures there are general morals that shape the lives of people from all over the world. For example, murder and cheating are inherently immoral actions, no matter where someone comes from;
Volleyball is a game which consists of teams of six which rally a ball over a net. Although anyone can play volleyball, sociologists have used a tool which displays how an individual decides to participate by exploring socio-cultural factors that can influence equity and access within sport. This tool is known as Figueroa’s Framework which was constructed by Peter Figueroa. “Figueroa developed a tool to investigate the issues surrounding access, equity and equality in sport and physical activity.” (12peboard.weebly.com). This framework consists of five levels they are Cultural, Structural, Institutional, Interpersonal and Individual; each level contributes to one another. Equity derived from the word equality looks at the equal opportunity/chance for everyone within any sport, whereas access focuses on the accessibility to equipment, a court, coaches etc. Both these elements have major impacts on whether the individual can easily participate and feel welcome in the sport. Figueroa’s Framework will be used to observe the Individual and Interpersonal level to self-evaluate my own participation and success in the sport Volleyball. These two levels will be discussed to demonstrate how the sport volleyball can be selected and what impact and effects are taken into consideration of this process and how they respond and develop. Problems in the equity of the sport will be looked and ideas will be discussed which could increase equity in the sport.
When a woman or man joins a non-traditional sport for their gender or sex, it can have drastic social and cultural costs. These impact not just the individual but also the entire community. When a person challenges the gender roles of society, then they change the perceptions of what men or women are capable of doing, they further androgynize cultural norms, and they open up sports for others.
The presence of activity and sport is found within cultures and societies all over the world, and throughout history. Activity in the form of sport can often be the purest form of expression for a society or individual. The sporting world is often thought to be a microcosm of the actual world with the problems and issues of society still being ever present in the sporting community. Since sport can be used as an expression of self, it is no wonder that sport is often a reflection of the society that it occupies. One such society that was deeply impacted by the role of sport is that of Native American boarding school students in the 1800’s and 1900’s. These students lived tough lives but just like how it had helped other cultural societies, sport was able to provide these students with basic needs of autonomy and pride.
Dunbar, Paul Laurence. The Sport of the Gods . 1901. Reprint. New York: Signet Classics, 2011. Print.
It goes without saying that a person's gender, racial and social origins influence their participation in sports. Particular races and genders often dominate certain sports. African Americans, for example, tend to dominate football and basketball, while Caucasians tend to dominate ice hockey. The same holds true for gender as well. Football is an entirely male dominated sport, while horseback riding, gymnastics and figure skating are much more female oriented. How and why did these divisions come about? Determining the origin of gender goes beyond the scope of this paper, however one can speculate about how gender classifications and stereotypes affect one's role in the sports arena.
Research guided by conflict theory generally falls into the following categories: 1) studies of how athletes become alienated from their own bodies; 2) studies of how sports can be used to coerce and control people; 3) studies of sports and the development of commercialism in society; 4) studies of sports and various forms of nationalism and militarism; and 5) studies of sports and racism and sexism. (Coakley, 1998) In the book, Meggyesy provided examples of each of these categories which occurred during his footba...
Prebish, Charles S. Religion and Sport: The Meeting of Sacred and Profane (Contributions to the Study of Popular Culture). Westport: Greenwood Press, 1993. Print.
From the age of folk games to the age of televised sports (5th ed.). (pp. 62-63).
Anderson, E. (2011). Masculinities and Sexualities in Sport and Physical Cultures: Three Decades of Evolving Research. Journal Of Homosexuality, 58(5), 565-578. doi:10.1080/00918369.2011.563652
Jarvie, G. (2012). Sport, Social Division and Social Inequality. Sport Science Review. 20 (1-2), 95–109.
The United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Sport for Development and Peace. “Sport as a
Dealing with the issue of sport and ethnology, three major factors come to mind; prejudice, racism, and discrimination. These factors span across gender, ethnic, racial, religious, and cultural groups. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss how these factors have played a part in the evolution of sport in our society. The first issue tackled in this paper will be racism in sports, followed by prejudice and discrimination.
Sports psychology is the study of how psychology influences sports, athletic performance, exercise and physical activity. Some sports psychologists work with professional athletes and coaches to improve performance and increase motivation. Other professionals use exercise and sports to enhance people’s lives and well-being. While finding ways to help athletes is certainly an important part of sports psychology, the application of exercise and physical activity for improving the lives of non-athletes is also a major focus.
Sports may have impacted our culture much more then we thought it would, and keeps impacting. Sports have affected some of the most important aspects of life, such as jobs and money. It has also affected things as little as who we look up to and how we dress. Culture means “the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively.” The definition of sports is “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.” So when we put two and two together we get a a nation or world that has changed due to sports. Back in the mid and late 1900’s sports were used to see whose way of life was better. As time went on and keeps going on, we