Speakers
Description
A rich body of academic literature in various national contexts has explored how commentators and journalists of televised football (re)construct racial/ethnic stereotypes, most notably that of the ‘natural Black athlete’. There has been less scholarly attention to how audiences actively interpret such racialized stereotypes, especially beyond the Anglosphere. From a cultural studies perspective, which considers texts to derive their meaning in the dynamic co-construction between content and audience, this lacuna is striking. This presentation aims to add to this gap by relaying the findings of an audience study that explored the discourses surrounding race/ethnicity that audiences of Polish televised football (re)produce or challenge in their ‘everyday football talk’ when giving meaning to football players from various racial/ethnic backgrounds. The findings show that the interviewees habitually spoke through ‘common sense’ racial/ethnic stereotypes in their everyday football talk, in particular (re)construction notions of the ‘natural Black athlete’. Discourses that interviewees drew on also highlight the complex and sometimes contradicting ways Whiteness was given meaning. The presentation will highlight how ‘everyday football talk’ in Poland can be considered a site in which race/ethnicity is given meaning, often along the lines of existing stereotypes. However, occasionally, interviewees also brought forward critical readings of football media content which challenged such stereotypes. This shows how ‘everyday football talk’ can be considered a site in which hegemonic but also complexly layered discourses are drawn on when giving meaning to supposed racial/ethnic categories and hierarchies.
