Fieldwork Journal

In response to:(Mindless) Optimism

2006-06-23T07:41:22+02:00

PS Fantastic result last night, bet that was quite a party! (Everyone here is quiet and subdued...)

In response to:(Mindless) Optimism

2006-06-23T07:39:40+02:00

Good answers. It's been very interesting and informative to read what you've been writing.

As you know I am very keen on the idea of football teams being representative of some kind of identity and don't doubt at all that these national teams are first and foremost literally that. Just as club football clubs were important as a focal point for identity for hard-up working classes in the late industrial age and for hard-up everyone after the wars, for example, it is good to see that this works to unify different peoples in difficult socioeconomic situations today.

National football, in particular the World Cup, does seem to evoke a greater (or certainly more obvious) national pride in different ways across the world. One of these is the undeniably excellent factor of cohesion, like you mention in the sad example of Liberia, and like in what for me is the definitive example - the nation of France being brought together as one France when the French national side won the World Cup in 1998 with a mixture of ethnic French, Algerians, and West Africans.

In England, while national 'pride' may indeed have longer associations with Rule Britannia conservatives and the more National Front football hooligans of the 1980s, football seems to me to be the leading exponent for our more recent national pride since Cool Britannia in the mid-1990s. Despite the undoubted residual (albeit minority) problems of hooliganism, I think the general case here is also a very good one, as the country unites to enjoy the World Cup experience together. I think the national pride aspect there is brought out in people far more than it would be on any normal day, and I would go as far as to speculate that a national identity partly fostered by football was a not insignificant factor in it 'feeling good to be English' when the cricketers won the Ashes last year.

Japan is an interesting case as well, for different reasons. It was until very very recently (and in some isolated cases still is) a great cause of concern to display the 'hi no maru' national flag and, in particular, to sing the national anthem 'kimi ga yo' because of a fear of being nationalistic with the associations to and the latent inherent shame that was felt about the country's imperial past. (The national anthem bears striking comparisons to ours, as it wishes the emperor a long life and reign. The emperor was the ultimate symbol of Japan and even literally had a God-like status until the end of WWII.) However, in the last few years, since Japan has started to compete on the world football stage, supporters have realised that it is OK to join in, support and be proud of their country, and express this as people from other countries do with their flag and their anthem. As a result, we had thousands of people in the stadium last night singing 'kimi ga yo' in unison, and relentlessly chanting 'Nippon!' (a name for their country which in itself may once have been an issue due to its slightly more emphatic nuance than the usual 'Nihon') until their side met its (inevitable) demise.

Oops, went off on a bit of a tangent there, but hopefully it's all relevant. Back to Africa - while I am sure that the national thing is the main thing for the actual countries involved and that they are keen on enjoying this, and it sounds like your observations and views confirm that beyond doubt, I do suspect that the 'Africa' thing has quite a unique significance. (Even if it may be wrong or perhaps impossible to compare this with the national identities.)

Michael Essien said last night that he wants Ghana to do it for Africa, now that they are likely to be the continent's sole representatives in the last 16. This goes along with what we've mentioned before, but it just struck me reading his comments this morning that that is surely something that, while true and instantly understandable, is pretty well unique to Africa. If Korea make it through tonight and Park Ji-Sung talks about wanting to do it for Asia, I imagine that many Japanese (although some maybe grudgingly supporting the team on some level) would view this as arrogance, that some Chinese may view it dismissively with the knowledge that their country is destined for greater (economic) things, and that people in Saudi Arabia would be entirely indifferent because Korea is half the world away anyway. There could be a case for some level of identity in other regions, perhaps Eastern Europe, the Baltic states, South-East Asia - I wouldn't really know - but in any case, this wouldn't be comparable to that of Africa in terms of the sheer scale of everything.

Anyway, hope that the time you had to spend reading all that in wherever you're accessing the internet was vaguely worth it... ;-) (Just tell me to shut up or get to the point otherwise!!)

In response to:(Mindless) Optimism

2006-06-23T00:06:42+02:00

The greatest day in Ghana's footballing history and you're right in the thick of it!! Been checking your blog mate, only just got round to adding owt- I'm guessing you're embroiled in the celebrations in some bar.. Come on the black stars!!- we all went for the warm up game against South Korea on Easter road- the South Korea supporters were incredible but Ghana were way stronger. I'm wearing my Ghana sweatband and will be thinking of you during the next game. Enjoy the rest of your time and see you soon mate. Oh and don't forget my Ghana shirt- medium please. Take care,
Little Jamie Pattercake

In response to:(Mindless) Optimism

2006-06-21T15:52:40+02:00

Thanks for that. Some good points raised there.

1.) I dont believe that Africa as a symbol is more important than the individual countries. For example, the tv coverage in Ghana as well as the papers to a lesser extent have urged the team to do well, not just for Africa but for Ghana herself. They want to see African football do well but with Ghana at the fore. It is about unity within the country first, to be proud to be Ghanaian. In both Ghana and Togo, many people are glad to see their respective countires in the tournament as they believe that it is a showcase to portray themselves on the world stage in a favourable light (although that has to have backfired in the case of Togo. Certainly a greater African identity is very much part of it but they dont want to just be seen as part of a whole landmass but individual countries in their own right, with cultural, economic, linguistic and geographical differences.

As for the countires being relics of the colonial age, with reference to football, it is one of the few times that there is a 'cohesive' national identity within these artificial boundaries. Speaking to people from different ethnic groups, especially at Independence Sq for the Ghana v Italy game, they were there as the team were representing them. It could mean different things to different people to be Ghanaian or Togolese but the team still represents them. Artificial though the borders maybe, there is a genuine sense of a shared identity. In the case of Liberia during the civil war, it has been documented that ceasefires between warring factions would be agreed to allow the national team to play. Weapons would be left at the gates and picked up afterwards but for those brief moments, there was a sense of being Liberian. The construct of 'the country' in Africa, I feel, still has an importance as a representative symbol of the identity of peoples.

2.)I was also under the impression that the pan-African sentiment was a sub-Saharan one. Yet, when it has come to the Tunisian games, there is still a certain level of solidarity between African countries although I also get the impression that this is limited to football and maybe other sports. Am running out of time now so have to be brief but people have told me that they were supporting Tunisia as they were African. The 6 yellow cards picked up by Tunisia v Spain was put down as the ref being anti-african, some even claiming that the ref was racist, a theme that seems to be running through my work. There are other examples that I could use but have run out of time.

Thanks again Ben and I'll see what I can do about the Hearts of Oak goodies. I learnt much of what I know about football through SWOS and Championship Manager...

In response to:(Mindless) Optimism

2006-06-19T15:21:50+02:00

Hey mate, long time no speak. Meant to get in touch sooner, but there aren't many hours left over once three World Cup matches and a day at the office are taken out of thr equation, and I need most of them for sleep considering the games last from 10pm to 6am where I am. Glad to see you're having a good time though.

Interesting point before about 'African solidarity'. African players have often been quoted in the past about their achievements being 'for Africa', including most notably World Cup successes, and indeed I think it has been reasonably well documented that supporters get behind other African nations in a similar way to the one you've experienced with Ghana and the Ivory Coast.

If we're talking about 'identity', could it even be argued that the symbol of 'Africa' is one that holds a deeper significance than that of the countries, which may to an extent just be considered arbitrary relics of colonial rule rather than true representative symbols of peoples?

Obviously I know much more about the football-identity-symbol thing than I do about Africa, about which I'm not going to pretend to know much about, but just thought it was an interesting point. It also strikes me that this image of 'Africa' really just refers to sub-Saharan Africa, or (to use a broad and probably inaccurate term) 'black' Africa, as opposed to the Arab north - wonder how this works in places like the Ivory Coast with the different communities?

I wouldn't be surprised if the fact that the World Cup has traditionally been a party for Europe and South America has something to do with it as well - and so it's good for the region as a whole to have someone do well. The TV commentators here talk about the Asian teams as a whole in terms of performance, though that is probably more to do with 'Asia' being a marker of similar strength as it is a blanket term for such an enormous area. Japanese don't generally have any interest in Iran or Saudi Arabia but do like to see and spend time concerning themselves about how Korea and China get on. There's a sense of similarity and familiarity there, though don't say so too loudly because the national pride comes first. Japanese will not generally be supporting Korea in their games in the World Cup, though will perhaps be (grudgingly) wishing them well as it's good for the region. A bit like the dilemma I'm faced with when I want the best for English football but then Liverpool or Arsenal get to the Champions League final!

Anyway, ended up being a bit long for a 'comment', many apologies. Will go and watch the second half of Switzerland-Togo, as I'm sure you're doing now.

PS - Be a good fella and pick me up a Hearts of Oak scarf or similar piece of merchandise if such things exist (not sure whether Ghana has the same rainy Wednesday nights in January that necessitate the scarves as the UK does, but just in case they have something! Japan has towels...). Hearing that name always makes me want to play Sensible World of Soccer!

In response to:African solidarity?

2006-06-17T12:12:06+02:00

Good to see a palace shirt all the way out there. I can't think of any recent palace african players, although i think akinbiyi was listed on champo as nigerian!

More interestingly:

How's the beer?

Found yourself any big african mumma's yet?

I think we should be shown some photos

In response to:First Impressions

2006-06-11T09:50:22+02:00

I am not sure mentioning Tiverton Town in your methods chapter is acceptable TBH. You could probably get away with Dundee Utd though.

In response to:First Impressions

2006-06-08T22:54:50+02:00

No update since 4th June, or don't I know how to access any updates?! Hope all is going well for you. Keep in touch. xxx (from your parents!)

In response to:First Impressions

2006-06-05T16:25:32+02:00

I've got 2 of those stupid Tiverton shirts with me. They're pretty useful as people come up and talk to you about it so you can engage them in conversation on footy. Therefore, I can put Tiverton Town into my dissertation as a legitimate part of methodology (but I'm not quite that sad)!

In response to:First Impressions

2006-06-05T15:59:34+02:00

The Semi-Lob!

I hope u havn't taken any of those stupid tiverton shirts with you

In response to:Getting ready to go

2006-06-01T22:59:03+02:00

Have a wonderful time. Safe journey. Enjoy the experience. And, more importantly, keep in touch!! Take care. Your parents!