Our next ERMeCC lunch seminar will take place on Tuesday, 4th April, 12:00-13:00 in Langeveld 3.14. The seminar will also be accessible via Zoom.
Contrasting media representation of race and national identity: the case of England and Italy at the UEFA Euro 2020
Dr. Max Mauro, Bournemouth University
The continuous growth of international sport events as media spectacles has magnified their ability to project ideas of nationhood. In media coverage, the athletes/players are portrayed as the embodiment of the “nation”, but this process is far from linear. Historically, mass media have constructed highly gendered and restricted ideas of the nation, placing women and ethnic minorities at the margins, or erasing them altogether. The analysis of the coverage of the England and Italy teams at the Euro 2020 brings to the fore the persistence, but also the evolution, of such tensions. Combining Critical Discourse Analysis with theories of race and racialisation, this paper aims to unpack the often-overlooked role of “race” in the articulation of national identity in Europe. While the England team proudly embraced the ethnic diversity of British society, Italy was the only Western European team not to select players with an immigrant background. By looking at a British popular newspaper, Daily Mail, and at an Italian one, Corriere della Sera, this paper provides a necessary update to the understanding of the function of mass media as “gatekeepers” of the nation.
If you or someone you know would like to present their research, or if you have any questions, please let us know. Thanks, and we look forward to seeing you!
The seminar is accessible on Zoom via the following link:
https://eur-nl.zoom.us/j/94585558217?pwd=eWRZVmUraHV0OUZaNUxwRDN1aUdLdz09
Meeting-ID: 945 8555 8217
Password: 172045