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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Transforming the Springboks: Re-Imagining the South African Nation through Sport
Authors:Farquharson, KarenISNI
Marjoribanks, TimothyISNI
Year:2003
Periodical:Social Dynamics
Volume:29
Issue:1
Period:Winter
Pages:27-48
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:future
nation
rugby
Miscellaneous (i.e. Demography, Refugees, Sports)
nationalism
External link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02533950308628649
Abstract:Nationbuilding occurs not only through the creation of formal institutions, but also through struggles in cultural and symbolic contexts. In apartheid South Africa, the rugby union Springboks both symbolized and institutionalized a racially based form of 'bounded citizenship'. In post-apartheid South Africa, the Springboks have emerged as a contested and significant site in the attempt to build a nonracial nation through reconciliation. To explore these contests, the authors undertook a qualitative thematic analysis of key English newspaper discourses around the Springboks, reconciliation and nationbuilding in the contexts of the 1995 and 1999 Rugby World Cups. Their research suggests, first, that the Springboks have been reimagined in newspaper discourses as a symbol of the nonracial nationbuilding process in South Africa, especially in 'media events' such as the World Cup. Second, the authors find that there are significant limitations in translating this symbolism into institutionalized practice, as exemplified by newspaper debates over the place of 'merit' in international team selection processes. Bibliogr., notes, sum. [Journal abstract]
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