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Book Cover
E-book
Author Cohan, Noah, author

Title We average unbeautiful watchers : fan narratives and the reading of American sports / Noah Cohan
Published Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, [2019]

Copies

Description 1 online resource
Series Sports, media, and society
Sports, media, and society.
Contents So we fabricate : baseball and the unfriendly confines of history -- It was my fate, my destiny, my end, to be a fan : football, mental illness, and the autobiographical novel -- Race in the basketball memoir : fan identity and the eros of "a Black man's game" -- It's been a problem with me and women : failed masculinities in depictions of sports fans on film -- Reimagined communities : web-mediated fandom and new narrative possibilities for sport
Summary "Sports fandom--often more than religious, political, or regional affiliation--determines how millions of Americans define themselves. In We Average Unbeautiful Watchers, Noah Cohan examines contemporary sports culture to show how mass-mediated athletics are in fact richly textured narrative entertainments rather than merely competitive displays. While it may seem that sports narratives are "written" by athletes and journalists, Cohan demonstrates that fans are not passive consumers but rather function as readers and writers who appropriate those narratives and generate their own stories in building their sense of identity. Critically reading stories of sports fans' self-definition across genres, from the novel and the memoir to the film and the blog post, We Average Unbeautiful Watchers recovers sports games as sites where fan-authors theorize interpretation, historicity, and narrative itself. Fan stories demonstrate how unscripted sporting entertainments function as identity-building narratives--which, in turn, enhances our understanding of the way we incorporate a broad range of texts into our own life stories. Building on the work of sports historians, theorists of fan behavior, and critics of American literature, Cohan shows that humanistic methods are urgently needed for developing nuanced critical conversations about athletics. Sports take shape as stories, and it is scholars in the humanities who can best identify how they do so--and why that matters for American culture more broadly"-- Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on May 16, 2019)
Subject Sports spectators -- United States -- Psychology
Mass media and sports -- United States
Racism in sports -- United States
Sports -- United States -- Psychological aspects
Identity (Psychology) -- United States
Sports in literature.
Sports journalism -- United States
POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Public Policy -- Cultural Policy.
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Anthropology -- Cultural.
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Popular Culture.
SPORTS & RECREATION -- Sociology of Sports.
Identity (Psychology)
Mass media and sports
Racism in sports
Sports in literature
Sports journalism
Sports -- Psychological aspects
Sports spectators -- Psychology
United States
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9781496216175
1496216172
9781496216199
1496216199