What is sport?

by Roland Barthes, Richard Howard (translator)

A little-known gem, the text of Barthes’s What is Sport? was never reprinted in the Seuil editions of his Complete Works—neither the three-volume version nor the later five-volume edition. It is published here in a graceful and faithful English translation by Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Howard. Originally commissioned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as the text for a documentary film directed by Hubert Aquin, What is Sport? was written three years after the publication of Barthes’s Mythologies (1957) and bears considerable resemblance to that work. Some of Barthes’s best writing seems to have been inspired by popular culture.

Once again blurring the distinction between high and low, the great French literary theorist muses philosophically on the question: What is sport? In investigating the phenomenon of sport, Barthes considers five national sports: bullfighting (Spain), car racing (America), cycling (France), hockey (Canada), and soccer (England). For Barthes, sport is spectacle and serves the primary social function that theater once did in antiquity, collecting a city or nation within a shared experience. The real pleasure of this book, however, lies less in its generalities than in its fleeting, strangely haunting moments of insight. It makes an appropriate gift for any sport enthusiast as well as those interested in the writing of Roland Barthes.

 

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Theory

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Roland Barthes of France applied semiology, the study of signs and symbols, to literary and social criticism.

Ideas of Roland Gérard Barthes, a theorist, philosopher, and linguist, explored a diverse range of fields. He influenced the development of schools of theory, including design, anthropology, and poststructuralism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_...

Reviews

[Davidfdz · Rating 5 out of 5]

MAGNIFICENT.

[Yancarlo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The transcript of the narration given during Hubert Aquin's documentary which illuminates the different herculean tasks (the last of which is the opponent in any given sport) that each athlete must overcome in the practice of their sport, and the function that sport has for the spectator and on a larger scale the significance it has for society. Quick, illuminating, and entirely readable in a sitting.

[Monica White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Defining sport philosophically is cool, but the real test is how you engage with it daily. Watching passively gets boring. I prefer interactive platforms like https://bet365-ind.com/registration/ , the Bet365 India registration page for sports betting and online casino access. After signing up and verifying, you’re following matches, odds, and momentum in real time. It deepens your understanding of sport beyond theory, and the secure setup in India means you’re not risking your cash blindly.

[Joaquín Vidal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pequeña joyita de Barthes y su relación desconocida con el deporte. Es una comparación del deporte, las artes y el teatro. Muy recomendable.

[Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a strange and quite marvellous little book. In Mythologies, Barthes has two widely read and cited assays about sport – the Tour de France and Wrestling. This short book continues the theme in the form of a film script from the early 1960s for a Canadian documentary. It is richly written (as expected from Barthes) and is poetic – it merits several revists in its evocations of motor racing, bull fighting, football (soccer), ice hockey, and cycling. Beautiful, and a reminder in a world where sports practice is increasingly instrumentalised and commodified that for many participants, it is all about the poetics of movement, action, and pleasure. Now, if only I can find the film.

[Lauringui · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cortito al pie. Es casi coleccionable lo que dice Rolando de cada deporte, es esa mirada sociológica con frases tan ricas que dan para analizarlas y analizarlas en loop infinito. Enriquecida con algunas imágenes que ilustran el objetivo de documental que filmó el colega que lo invitó a escribir estos comentarios, lo textos de Barthes se entrelazan perfectos en un guión que incluso podría ser retomado ahora. Es el hombre contra la naturaleza y el hombre contra el tiempo: las luchas eternas que se reviven en cada espectáculo deportivo como los citados en el libro.

[Salvatore · Rating 3 out of 5]

It would be better to hear these words with the images they're attached to, I'd imagine. How we subscribe myth to athletics (and how this is different than the myth around theatre). Stopping in car racing is DEATH!

[Nativeabuse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting book, basically Barthes doing his signature analysis, only on various sports.

[Devon Chodzin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting essay/spoken piece with a similarly interesting history. A decent primer on earlier philosophies of sport. Plus, Barthes.