The Study of Supporter Cultures
2001 Volume 9 Pages 24-35,131
Details
2001 Volume 9 Pages 24-35,131
The purpose of this study is to cite a perspective of Japanese supporter cultures. The paper provides a critical review of the sociological studies about hooliganism in Britain, especially by the ‘Leicester School’ and I. Taylor. And it also discusses the studies of R. Giulianotti and S. Redhead in popular culture studies describing the transformation of hooliganism in the 1990's. In this paper, the needs underlying reciprocation are emphasized in theories and fieldwork to describe supporters' living experiences in Japanese context.
From the fieldwork at Urawa, the cultural context of the supporters is over-concerned with the supporters' representations and memories, masculinity, the Urawa geography, passion and disappointment at the stadium and a moment of resistance. Such elements are complexly connected with historical incidents. The people's lives as supporters are comprised of a variety of elements in everyday life simultaneously combined, before appearing in the open as a single force.
