"From Bullfights to Football Games" (Study)
This dissertation that I found compares the way bullfighting and football have contributed to the "process of modernisation and globalsation in Spain"(Andersen, 2017, page 1). I think it will be helpful to see and compare to what extent bullfighting has impacted the globalisation or modernisation of Spain, especially against the sport of football since this is one of the most famous and popular sports in Spain as well as around the world. Also, gaining a sense of peoples tastes overtime will be useful.
Firstly, this study acknowledges that culture is "a pattern of behavior and tradidition," (Andersen, 2017, page 2). Taking this into account, already there is an argument that bullfighting is only a continuing "sport" because it has always been around in Spain. There is a feeling that therefore it would be wrong to get rid of this sport. However there is a distinction between cultures and I believe this idea is key:
- Activities "such as reading a book or going to the theatre is a cultural practice", (Andersen, 2017, page 2).
- Going to a football game is "popular culture", (Andersen, 2017, page 2).
It seems that this author is trying to show that if an event has too many people and is extremely poplar (like football) it isn't a cultural event, it is a popular event. So when it is viewed this way "culture seems incompatible with the idea of the masses." (Andersen, 2017, page 2)
Then, the author goes on to speak about the relevance of bullfighting to the cultural identity of Spain: "Goya dedicated several paintings to the fiestas de toros and el arte de tauromaquia, as did Picasso; Lorca wrote poems about it, Llanto por Ignacio Sánchez Mejías, and Hemingway gave it a treatment in his Death in the Afternoon".(Andersen, 2017, page 6). This list of influential figures of history consolidates the idea that bullfighting was indeed a part of culture, and especially the history of Spain. However, the author also highlights the contrasting views about this: some people believed bullfighting showed spirit and culture, while others believe it stopped Spain from evolving and actually "maintained Spain as an underdeveloped country and was a testimony of its stupidity", (Shubert, 1999, A History of the Spanish Bullfighting), because of its bloodiness and brutality. Moreover, "Unamuno suggested that bullfighting did not infuriate the people or make them more savage, rather it made them stupid"(Andersen, 2017, page 7). These views are interesting and offer a different view on the tradition of bullfighting; instead of glorifying it, they expose the reality that in most cases people are wooed by a spectacle but neglect to think about the reality behind it and the treatment of animals and the needless brutality of it.
Bullfighting continued in its popularity through to the early nineteenth century, and the writer notes how the fights had to be moved from taking place on Mondays to Sundays as they were so popular that they actually started to interfere with peoples work, and also "Ventas" (A big arena in Madrid) was built in 1929. It became modernised as well and began to involve all social classes, and new rules allowed the horses to be able to wear protection.
However, football started to increase in popularity, and it had the advantage that it was not bound by season (The Bullfighting season takes place from April until October). Furthermore it had rules that were simple, and it is a sport that everyone can play. Even so, bullfighting remained tradition, which arguably is an example of how the Spanish people enjoyed the sense of history and Spain in essence that is felt in bullfighting.
The writer state that Hemingway pointed out that "bullfighting and football coexisted at the beginning of the 20th century when football quickly became a great success in Spain. Only five years separate the foundation of the first team, Foot-Ball Sky, founded in 1897 by students from La Institución Libre de Enseñanza, and the first formalised game was played at the crowning of Alfonso XIII on May 15th 1902. (Báez y Pérez de Tudela, Fútbol, p.39-40). On top of this, the language development is interesting: whereas in the early days football was translated literally as "Balón de pie", it became "el fútbol" that we know today, showing the "global dimension of the sport"(Andersen, 2017, page 8). As this would all indicate, it quickly "became a sport of the masses" (Andersen, 2017, page 8), in Spain. However, football was an international sport, while bullfighting was national. Within Spain, football established itself quickly as a national sport because of the "masses" who loved to watch it in a civilised way.
The transition from violent sports to more controlled sport such as football was a part of a civilization process in England, and the writer explains their view that this is to some extent applicable to the case of Spain. This is because the practice of bullfights has been criticised as a barbaric and violent tradition incompatible with a "civil society", and several changes have been made throughout history to make the fights less barbaric and more civilised, but always maintaining the tragedy and death. This is not only due to the change in tastes and a more civilised nature, but also bullfighting has been changed over the years to please various kings or allign with the views off the Church.
Infact, Felipe II didn't inherit his fathers passion for bullfighting, and so he banned it. On top of this, in "1567 Pope Pius V determined that anyone who participated in bullfights would be ex communicated"(Andersen, 2017, page 10), showing the controversial opinions towards bullfighting through out history. Evidently, bullfighting negatively impacted Spain in the sense that it held them back from progression and modernity, something which football did as it would have led to international matches, more tourism, business and investment. Bullfighting has remained solely in Spain, so i can be sure that it has limitations on how it benefits the economy and growth; this "tradition" is actually just an old spectacle that people are clinging to. While football didn't exactly overthrow it since the sport of bullfighting still carries on, it did raise awareness of the barbaric nature and dissuade many people from supporting it. Furthermore, football made Spain connected and modern, something which bullfighting has never and will never do.
Source Evaluation:
This source is accurate and reliable since it is a scholary article, and it was published in 2017 (relatively recently). I have found it extremely useful as I now fully understand the limitations that bullfighting has, and how other sports such as football can bring to much more for Spain, and that actually the continuation of the "sport" of bullfighting actually is just because it has become so deeply associated with the national symbol of Spain and the idea of Spain that they won't get rid of it. The dissertation was also produced by the University of Copenhagen, meaning it will be factually accurate as it is a factual piece.
To update this social significance understanding, I also looked into the RSPCA sight on fox hunting in the UK as I think this could be a useful comparison to make, and I gained the understanding that the public wanted the hunting to end:
"Hunting with dogs was banned in 2005 in reaction to public. They were strongly against the cruelty of wild animals being chased, often to the point of exhaustion, before being purposely set upon by packs of dogs for so called 'sport'.
We believe that chasing and killing live animals with dogs is barbaric, outdated and has no place in modern Britain. The vast majority (typically 70-80 per cent) of the British public agree with our stance". (RSPCA, 2022)
References:
- (Andersen, Katrine Helene (2017) "A Revolt of the Masses: Culture and Modernity in Early 20th Century Spain: From Bullfights to Football Games," CALL: Irish Journal for Culture, Arts, Literature and Language: Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 9.)
- (Adrian Shubert, A History of the Spanish Bullfighting. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.)
- Báez y Pérez de Tudela, Fútbol, p.39-40.
- RSPCA, 2022, https://www.rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/campaign/hunting, accessed 24th March 2022)
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