Speakers
Description
In May 2019, CityNews (a Canadian national news outlet) aired a segment about a call for donations of hockey-related beer cans. The segment featured two members from the Beer Can Collectors of America (BCCA) and a staff member from the Hockey Hall of Fame (HHOF). From this segment, phrases such as: “a piece of history” and “a connection to the hockey fan’s experience” describe the symbolic meaning of hockey-related beer vessels, while other phrases such as: “kept and preserved”, “a natural partnership” and “a perfect marriage” characterize the nature of a relationship between beer and hockey. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the ways in which hockey-related beer vessels link with broader social and cultural contexts.
This research is positioned within material cultural studies (MCS) and is grounded in the notion that objects symbolize broader social, cultural, and identity significance, and, accordingly, acknowledges “objects as evidence of other complex social relationships” (Herman, 1992, p.4). The key relationship investigated here is the link between sport and alcohol.
A content analysis was conducted on 230 hockey related beer vessels. The vessels were initially coded into 11 themes that then, after agreement, were merged into five overarching themes: team identity, national identity, hockey icons, hockey vignettes and generic symbols, and female representation. Each of the five themes and specific ideological functions of the collection will be further discussed at the presentation.
