基本説明
The eighteenth issue of European Studies in Sport History joins a long-standing and dynamic academic conversation on the intersection of sport and religion, offering a historical perspective that spans from the nineteenth century to the present day. Over this period, shifts in cultural and social practices have redefined how societies experience ritual, belief, and the body. Sport has become a key arena where these transformations are expressed, contested, and ritualized in new ways, often reflecting larger societal changes. A well-known example of this tension is the case of Eric Liddell, who refused to compete on a Sunday during the 1924 Olympic Games due to his Christian convictions. Immortalized in the film Chariots of Fire, his stance reflected a time when religious obligation could outweigh athletic ambition. Today, however, such decisions are rare. Churches stand increasingly empty while stadiums fill with people. Sundays once centered on spiritual practice now often revolve around televised sport. Chants, rituals, and symbolic attire—once part of religious liturgies—now appear in sporting contexts, suggesting that religious expression has not disappeared but changed form, finding new spaces and audiences. This volume explores how religion and sport have intersected, coexisted, and at times clashed across various historical and cultural settings. The articles offer diverse perspectives on how these two domains have shaped each other. From organized religions like Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism to more diffuse notions of spirituality and ritual, contributors examine how sport has mirrored, displaced, or blended with religious experience. Rather than being treated as separate, these spheres are shown to be historically entangled and mutually influential. Several studies investigate ritual and gesture in contemporary sport.
