Football Nation: The Playing Fields of German Culture, History, and Society

Description

Over the past century, the impact of football on Germany has been manifold, influencing the arts, political debates, and even contributing to the construction of cultural memories and national narratives. Football Nation analyses the game’s fluid role in shaping and reflecting German society, and spans its focus on modern German history, from the Wilhelmine era to the early 21st century. Expounding on topics of gender, class, fandom, spectatorship, antisemitism, nationalism, and internationalism, a diverse group of interdisciplinary scholars offer a novel approach to understanding the many influences of football throughout its extensive history which until recently has only been available to a German-speaking readership. Contents Introduction — Historical Perspectives on the German Football Nation Part I — A Border-Crossing Game: German Football and International Cultural Exchange Chapter 1 — The Introduction and Integration of Football into a Divided Society: Conservative and Socialist Football in Germany from 1871 to 1933 Chapter 2 — Fußball Internationale: Toward a Global History of GDR Football Chapter 3 — Local Fans, Global Players: Contradictions in Postindustrial Football Part II — Race, Exclusion, and Otherness in German Football Chapter 4 — Willy Meisl’s German Football Nation: Internationalism, Austrian Patriotism, and Jewish Pride in Interwar Sports Writing Chapter 5 — Commodified, Corrupted, and Capitalist: Combatting the Modern Athletic Machine in Melchior Vischer’s Fußballspieler and Indianer Chapter 6 — Controlling Definitions: Racism and German Identity after Mesut Özil’s National Team Resignation Part III — Forming Identities through Football: Class and Gender in German Culture Chapter 7 — The Making of a Football Myth: Memory, Masculinity, and the Media Chapter 8 — A Gendered Network of Double Binds in Joachim Hasler’s Football Musical Don’t Cheat, Darling! Chapter 9 — From GDR-Emigrant to Third-Class Citizen: Football Stadiums, Social Divides, and East German Identities in Andreas Gläser’s BFC is to Blame for the Wall Part IV — The Politics Beyond the Pitch: German Fandom and Spectatorship Chapter 10 — Educating the Spectator: Athlete-Fan Interplay in the Early German Football Film The Eleven Devils by Zoltan Korda Chapter 11 — Antisemitic Metaphors in German Football Fan Culture Directed at RB Leipzig Chapter 12 — One Foot on the Ball and the Other Nearly in Jail? Analyzing the Role of Social Work in the Interaction of Supporters, Police, and the Media in Hamburg Football Chapter 13 — Countering Contingency: Aesthetics and Fan Codetermination in German Football Conclusion — “Fußball ist alles!” Football’s Importance in German Society Index