Anthropological Ethnography: The Ritual of Football

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the sociological and anthropological implications inherent in the commonplace ritual of a youth football match. Particularly, the paper describes a recent match involving two teams that coincidentally happened to have certain ethnic majorities on their roster. The paper examines why winning this match was so important to the parents and families of the children, and the paper also looks at the social organization, cultural economy, language, and semiotics of the soccer match ritual with an eye towards determining the greater truths and significances it holds.

From the Paper:

"It is often said that to truly understand cultures (and human beings more generally) it is necessary to review the rituals in which they participate. The following paper will focus upon one such ritual - namely, the ritual of the local soccer or "football" game which so often takes place at the near-by park or recreational center. In so doing, the paper will explore the social organization, cultural economy, language and semiotics of the ritual with the hope that the reader will be left with a better understanding of the deeper significances and structures which turn the every-day soccer or "football" match into a rich harvest for cultural anthropologists."

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