The NFL
Critical and Cultural Perspectives
Published on 19. February 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
268 pages
978-1-4399-0958-4 (ISBN)
Description
The National Football League is one of the most significant cultural engines in contemporary American life. Yet despite intense and near ubiquitous media coverage, commentators rarely turn a critical lens on the league to ask what material and social forces have contributed to its success, and how the NFL has influenced public life in the United States.
The editors of and contributors to The NFL examine the league as a culturally, economically, and politically powerful presence in American life. The essays, by established and up-and-coming scholars, explore how the NFL is packaged for commercial consumption, the league's influence on American identity, and its relationship to state and cultural militarism.
The NFL is the first collection of critical essays to focus attention on the NFL as a cultural force. It boldly moves beyond popular celebrations of the sport and toward a fuller understanding of football's role in shaping contemporary sport, media, and everyday life.
Contributors include: David L. Andrews, Aaron Baker, Michael Butterworth, Jacob Dittmer, Dan Grano, Samantha King, Kyle Kusz, Toby Miller, Ronald L. Mower, Dylan Mulvin, Oliver J.C. Rick, Katie Rodgers, and the editors.
The editors of and contributors to The NFL examine the league as a culturally, economically, and politically powerful presence in American life. The essays, by established and up-and-coming scholars, explore how the NFL is packaged for commercial consumption, the league's influence on American identity, and its relationship to state and cultural militarism.
The NFL is the first collection of critical essays to focus attention on the NFL as a cultural force. It boldly moves beyond popular celebrations of the sport and toward a fuller understanding of football's role in shaping contemporary sport, media, and everyday life.
Contributors include: David L. Andrews, Aaron Baker, Michael Butterworth, Jacob Dittmer, Dan Grano, Samantha King, Kyle Kusz, Toby Miller, Ronald L. Mower, Dylan Mulvin, Oliver J.C. Rick, Katie Rodgers, and the editors.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Philadelphia PA
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-4399-0958-4 (9781439909584)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Thomas P. Oates is Assistant Professor of American Studies and Journalism & Mass Communication at the University of Iowa. His work on sports, media, and contemporary culture has appeared in Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies and the Sociology of Sport Journal.
Zack Furness is Assistant Professor of Communications at Penn State University, Greater Allegheny. He is the editor of Punkademics and the author of One Less Car: Bicycling and the Politics of Automobility (Temple).
Zack Furness is Assistant Professor of Communications at Penn State University, Greater Allegheny. He is the editor of Punkademics and the author of One Less Car: Bicycling and the Politics of Automobility (Temple).
Content
Foreword: Football as Mediated Spectacle * Michael Oriard
Introduction: The Political Football: Culture, Critique, and the NFL * Thomas P. Oates and Zack Furness
I Production, Promotion, and Control
1 The Greatest Game Ever Played: An NFL Origin Story * Daniel A. Grano
2 Game Time: A History of the Managerial Authority of the Instant Replay * Dylan Mulvin
3 The Ochocinco Brand: Social Media's Impact on the NFL's Institutional Control * Jacob Dittmer
4 New Media and the Repackaging of NFL Fandom * Thomas P. Oates
II Identities, Social Hierarchies, and Cultural Power
5 NFL Sex * Toby Miller
6 Football and "Ghettocentric" Logics? The NFL's Essentialist Mobilization of Black Bodies* Ronald L. Mower, David L. Andrews, and Oliver J. C. Rick
7 "I Was a Gladiator": Pain, Injury, and Masculinity in the NFL * Katie Rodgers
8 Masculinity, Race, and Violence in Any Given Sunday * Aaron Baker
9 Spignesi, Sinatra, and the Pittsburgh Steelers: Franco's Italian Army as an Expression of Ethnic Identity, 1972-1977 * Nicholas P. Ciotola
III Gridirons and Battlefields
10 Offensive Lines: Sport-State Synergy in an Era of Perpetual War * Samantha King
11 NFL Films and the Militarization of Professional Football * Michael L. Butterworth
12 For the Love of National Manhood: Excavating the Cultural Politics and Media Memorializations of Pat Tillman * Kyle W. Kusz
Contributors
Index
Introduction: The Political Football: Culture, Critique, and the NFL * Thomas P. Oates and Zack Furness
I Production, Promotion, and Control
1 The Greatest Game Ever Played: An NFL Origin Story * Daniel A. Grano
2 Game Time: A History of the Managerial Authority of the Instant Replay * Dylan Mulvin
3 The Ochocinco Brand: Social Media's Impact on the NFL's Institutional Control * Jacob Dittmer
4 New Media and the Repackaging of NFL Fandom * Thomas P. Oates
II Identities, Social Hierarchies, and Cultural Power
5 NFL Sex * Toby Miller
6 Football and "Ghettocentric" Logics? The NFL's Essentialist Mobilization of Black Bodies* Ronald L. Mower, David L. Andrews, and Oliver J. C. Rick
7 "I Was a Gladiator": Pain, Injury, and Masculinity in the NFL * Katie Rodgers
8 Masculinity, Race, and Violence in Any Given Sunday * Aaron Baker
9 Spignesi, Sinatra, and the Pittsburgh Steelers: Franco's Italian Army as an Expression of Ethnic Identity, 1972-1977 * Nicholas P. Ciotola
III Gridirons and Battlefields
10 Offensive Lines: Sport-State Synergy in an Era of Perpetual War * Samantha King
11 NFL Films and the Militarization of Professional Football * Michael L. Butterworth
12 For the Love of National Manhood: Excavating the Cultural Politics and Media Memorializations of Pat Tillman * Kyle W. Kusz
Contributors
Index