"Bend It Like Beckham": Literature and Sports

Course Description

When, in 1992, Nick Hornby published Fever Pitch, his autobiographical novel about the trials and tribulations of an Arsenal London supporter, soccer finally became an acceptable, if not fashionable, topic with literary critics and audiences alike. One might also instance here David Beckham, who is an icon of pop and the subject even of academic studies, or Andrew Lloyd Webber’s soccer musical The Beautiful Game (2000), currently playing at Dresden (Staatsoperette).
This course aims to approach “sports writing” from the perspective of cultural studies. Apart from athletics and rugby, which feature prominently in “early” forms of sports literature, the emphasis will be on soccer as a cultural metaphor in a variety of discourses. We will analyse a number of texts/films with regard to the themes and issues of class, race, gender, and nation, as they become manifest in their topicality. Examples to be studied will include: Alan Sillitoe, The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner (1959), David Storey, This Sporting Life (1960), Nick Hornby, Fever Pitch (1992), Marie Jones, A Night in November (1999), Clifford Oliver's trilogy The Football Plays (Kicking out, Ooh Ah Showab Khan, My England) (1997-2001), and the popular film Bend It Like Beckham (2002).

Required reading:

Alan Sillitoe. The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner. Ed. Susanne Lenz. Stuttgart: Reclam, 1985 (= Reclams Fremdsprachentext). Further material will be made available after registration.

Prerequisites:

"Zwischenprüfung"

Requirements for Credit:

regular attendance, oral presentation, and term paper

Registration:

To register, please send an e-mail to Prof. Huber before 15 September, stating your name, semester standing, and subjects. To avoid disappointment, please register early, as there is a limit on attendance (25 participants).