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From violence to party: a history of the presentation of American Football in England and Germany

Dzikus, Lars
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1123873905

Abstract Details

2005, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Educational Policy and Leadership.
While scholars have widely discussed the cultural, economic, and political influence of the United States on Europe in general and Germany in particular, the realm of sports has received surprisingly little attention. This study ties in with the scholarly debate about Americanization and / or globalization that started in the first half the 1990s. It examines the presentation of American football in England from the 1890s through World War II as well as in Germany following the war to the present day. The study discusses what non-Americans wrote about football and what their countrymen and –women read about it. The study draws on English and German newspapers and magazines, particularly the London Times and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. It also examines the role American military, radio, television, and movies played in the diffusion of American football. In the case of Germany, the researcher draws on extensive qualitative interviews with several of the “founding fathers” of American football in Germany as well as his own experiences in the sport. The work demonstrates that American football arrived in Germany on a field that had been prepared by a three-hundred-year process of imagining Amerika. The author uses this context to explain why football has been relatively popular in Germany compared to other European countries. The study also explores football’s failure to get established in Germany during the post-World War II era, and describes how Germans finally formed their own clubs and leagues in the late 1970s. Using selected illustrations, this study describes (1) how German Amerikabilder—images, ideas, and symbols associated with America—have been constructed in and around football in Germany and (2) how these constructs reflect a number of heterostereotypes Germans have cultivated over centuries. As part of this process, the press presented football as a violent American game and entertainment spectacle. The study closes with an epilogue that shifts the focus from what was written about football to the meanings spectators, players, and coaches brought to the sport.
Melvin Adelman (Advisor)
350 p.
History, European
American Football; England; Germany; American Football Bund Deutschland; Globalization; Americanization; Diffusion; NFL; NFL Europe; World League of American Football; Michael Oriard; Joseph Maguire

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Dzikus, L. (2005). From violence to party: a history of the presentation of American Football in England and Germany [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1123873905

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Dzikus, Lars. From violence to party: a history of the presentation of American Football in England and Germany. 2005. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1123873905.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Dzikus, Lars. "From violence to party: a history of the presentation of American Football in England and Germany." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2005. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1123873905

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1123873905
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© 2005, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.