Full Description
In Rio de Janeiro, the spiritual home of world football, and Buenos Aires, where a popular soccer club president was recently elected mayor, the game is an integral part of national identity. Using the football stadium as an illuminating cultural lens, Temples of the Earthbound Gods examines many aspects of urban culture that play out within these monumental architectural forms, including spirituality, violence, rigid social norms, anarchy, and also expressions of sexuality and gender.
Tracing the history of the game in Brazil and Argentina through colonial influences as well as indigenous ball courts in Mayan, Aztec, Zapotec, Mixtec, and Olmec societies, Christopher Gaffney's study spans both ancient and contemporary worlds, linking the development of stadiums to urbanization and the consolidation of nation building in two of Latin America's most intriguing megacities.
Contents
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Chapter One. The Stadium in Theory and Practice
Chapter Two. Rio de Janeiro: Spiritual Home of World Football
Chapter Three. Stadiums and Society in Twenty-first Century Rio de Janeiro
Chapter Four. Buenos Aires: Estadiolandia
Chapter Five. Class and Conflict in the Stadiums of Buenos Aires
Chapter Six. Comparative Cultural Urbanism
Appendix A. Stadiums in Rio de Janeiro, 2008
Appendix B. Clubs and Stadiums in Buenos Aires, 2007
Appendix C. Time Line, Brazil
Appendix D. Time Line, Argentina
Notes
Bibliography
Index
