[DOWNLOAD] "Symbology of Success: Aboriginal Games and the Insignia of Olympic Validation" by Proceedings: International Symposium for Olympic_x00D_Research ~ eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Symbology of Success: Aboriginal Games and the Insignia of Olympic Validation
- Author : Proceedings: International Symposium for Olympic_x00D_Research
- Release Date : January 01, 2008
- Genre: Sports & Outdoors,Books,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 71 KB
Description
The Self-referential Symbolic Inventory of Olympic Sports The fact that the Olympic Games constitute themselves as a "great symbol" (1) has been noted by a variety of observers; MacAloon is not the only one but one of the more influential authors to note here. The wide-ranging symbolic significations produced by the Olympics derive their efficacy from a heterogeneous inventory of significations--some, but surprisingly few of these, derived directly from the inherent logic of competitive sports. The immediate symbolic validation of competitive performance of sports centers around awarding of medals of differential symbolic value, as well as the symbolic segmentation of space along an hierarchical axis by means of the victory awards podium. (2) The awarding of medals and the winner's ascension to the highest position on the podium, constitute the moment where the competitive sports model self-referentially validates itself--the medal imbuing with meaning instances of superordination (winning--but not of its necessary counterpart, the loser's subordination), the medal in turn only taking on meaning, through its own act of designation, as symbolic reflection on the differential performances that function as the signifier enabling the medals' symbolic force.