What Is Sport? (Paperback)

A poetic meditation on professional sport by one of the major figures of twentieth-century French Literature and thought, published in an elegant paperback gift edition 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.

General

Imprint:	Yale University Press
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	November 2007
First published:	October 2007
Authors:	Roland Barthes
Translators:	Richard Howard
Dimensions:	152 x 178 x 7mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	84
ISBN-13:	978-0-300-11604-5
Categories:	Books > Sport & Leisure > Sports & outdoor recreation > General Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Interdisciplinary studies > Cultural studies > Popular culture
LSN:	0-300-11604-7
Barcode:	9780300116045

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!