Sport As Symbol: Images of the Athlete in Art, Literature and Song

Mari Womack

McFarland, 2003 - Sports & Recreation - 243 pages

Upon first consideration, sport and art seem to occupy separate, even opposing, realms -- sport, associated with physical prowess, and art, with the highest reaches of the human mind. But because sport is such a powerful metaphor for so many human experiences, it has found its way into artistic traditions all over the world. Part One of this book provides a basic understanding of sport as symbol. Part Two gives attention to animals as adversaries and traces the origins of sporting art back to the hunt. Part Three considers humans competing against humans in combat sports, ball games, stick-and-ball games, and racquet sports, as well as in warfare. Part Four concentrates on contesting with oneself in races and sports of grace and beauty such as gymnastics, figure skating and ice dancing. The book concludes with a discussion of the athlete's relationships to society.

Contents

• Preface: 1
• Power of Life and Death: 30
• Ritual Origins of the Bullfight: 57
• The Socialization of Conflict: 90
• Five War Games: 122
• Seven Metaphors of Love Death and Rebirth: 184
• Eight High Priests and Super Stars: 218
• Notes: 231

About the author

DR. MARI WOMACK is a writer and anthropologist specializing in symbols, religion, gender, anthropological theory and methods, and American popular culture. A research scholar at the UCLA Center for the Study of Women, she is scriptwriter for the PBS television series "Faces of Culture" and co-editor of "The Other Fifty Percent," a reader on gender. Dr. Womack hones her classroom skills by teaching at several California institutions, including UCLA and Santa Monica College. The Santa Monica College chapter of Alpha Gamma Sigma, the student honor society, presented her with its Instructional Excellence Award in spring 2000.

Formerly an international radio broadcaster for Voice of America, Dr. Womack has been quoted in "The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times," and "The Wall Street Journal," and has appeared on a number of television programs, including the "Today show," applying anthropological insights to contemporary issues. As a journalist, she has reported on news events ranging from U.S. presidential elections to earthquakes. She has interviewed a number of distinguished subjects, from Benezir Bhutto of Pakistan, to Nobel Prize-winning scholars, to film stars.

Dr. Womack's current interests center on producing books on anthropology for the classroom and the general public. She has been asked to edit readers on psychological anthropology and comparative religion and has completed the writing stage for two books on symbols: "Symbols and Meaning" and "Sport as Symbol: Images of the Athlete in Art, Literature and Song," Her book on symbols for the public will be called "Gods, Heroes, and Demons: The Importance of Symbols in Everyday Life,

Bibliographic information

• Title: Sport As Symbol: Images of the Athlete in Art, Literature and Song
• Author: Mari Womack
• Edition: 2, illustrated
• Publisher: McFarland, 2003
• ISBN: 0786415797, 9780786415793
• Length: 243 pages
• Subjects: Art / Subjects & Themes / General; Literary Criticism / General; Sports & Recreation / Boxing; Sports & Recreation / Reference