Description
Book SynopsisIn this cross-cutting cultural history, Gregg Bocketti traces the origins of football in Brazil from its elitist, Eurocentric identity as ""foot-ball"" at the end of the nineteenth century to its subsequent mythologization as the specifically Brazilian ""futebol,""
o jogo bonito (the beautiful game).
Trade ReviewBeautifully researched and engagingly told, this book captures the bitter conflicts and surprising continuities that marked the emergence of a national style in Brazil as it tells the story of the men and women who, despite their many differences, together created 'the beautiful game.'"" - Roger Kittleson, author of
The Country of Football: Soccer and the Making of Modern Brazil ""Compellingly shows how each segment of Brazilian society—players, club owners, and spectators, especially the usually neglected female fans—was touched by the sport that it eventually came to proudly embrace as its own."" - Amy Chazkel, coeditor of
The Rio de Janeiro Reader: History, Culture, Politics ""Highlights the narrative power of soccer, showing how Brazilians—from elite sportsmen and nationalist intellectuals to common men and women—infused the sport with both personal and national importance."" - Joshua Nadel, author of
Fútbol!: Why Soccer Matters in Latin America ""Bocketti proposes that nationalist soccer history, emphasizing democratization and Brazilianization"" of the game, ignores early participation of women, continuing dominance of middle-class and wealthy club directors and the effects of exporting players to European teams."" -
Choice""Innovative for soccer history because of its detailed reconstruction of the sport's formation in Brazil. The study is immersed in social facts, mediated by practices, institutions, entities, beliefs, and routines, among other corporate dimensions, that contribute to uncovering reality and deconstructing the myth that soccer is authentically interclass and multiracial."" -
Hispanic American Historical Review""A nuanced and insightful analysis of the contending narratives about the emergence and expansion of football in Brazil, and of how they have produced the powerful nationalist narrative of the futebol nation."" -
H-Net Reviews
