Nationalism and Sporting Culture: A Media Analysis of Croatia’s Participation in the 1998 World Cup Andreja Milasincic, BPHED Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Applied Health Sciences (Health and Physical Education) Supervisor: Ian Ritchie, PhD Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, Brock University St. Catharines, Ontario L2S 3A1 Andreja Milasincic © November 2013 Abstract The past two centuries have witnessed the rise of nationalist movements and widespread nationalism. As these movements gained strength in Europe, sport played a role in their development. Media representations of sport recount events in a way that reinforces cultural values and this research investigates media representations of Croatian nationalism in the weeks surrounding the country’s third place victory in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Sociological theories alongside more contemporary theories of sport and nation construction are considered. Croatian newspapers were analyzed for elements of national identity construction. The study concludes that the 1998 World Cup played an important role in Croatia’s on-going construction of nationhood and invention of nationalist traditions. This research further demonstrates sport’s ability to evoke strong emotions that are difficult to witness in other areas of social life and the direct role of sport in garnering nationalism. Keywords: nationalism, identities, newspapers, Croatia, soccer Acknowledgments The successful composition of this thesis required the support and direction of various individuals. First and foremost, a thank you to my supervisor, Dr. Ian Ritchie, for the countless hours spent encouraging, advising, and offering constructive criticisms throughout the research process. Your support and guidance have been not only appreciated but also vital to the completion of this thesis. Secondly, to the internal members of my committee, Dr. Lisa Kikulis and Dr. Craig Hyatt, thank you for being involved in my research journey and for offering your criticism thereby allowing me to broaden my knowledge and research in the pursuit of a strong final thesis. Your areas of expertise and interest have had a strong influence on the research presented here. To Dr. Kevin Wamsley, thank you for taking the time to be the completing piece and external member of my committee. I am both thankful and appreciative for the time that you have invested in this thesis and for being involved in this process, I am looking forward to working with you in the future. To Ivan Luksic, words cannot express the gratitude that I have for the amount of time that you have selflessly dedicated in offering me guidance as I completed this thesis. It has not been overlooked and is truly appreciated. And finally, most importantly, thank you to my family. To my parents, for encouraging me to pursue something beyond what I believed I was capable of and to Kristina, who has achieved great successes and been nothing short of a role model. You have motivated me to achieve greatness and to aspire to succeed. And finally to Peter, thank you for being my relief when needed and for encouraging me to pursue this degree. Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 Statement of Purpose ...................................................................................................................... 2 History of Croatian Soccer .............................................................................................................. 3 Importance of the Research........................................................................................................... 15 Chapter 2: Literature Review ........................................................................................................ 19 Nations and Nation-States ............................................................................................................. 19 Nationalism ................................................................................................................................... 31 Sociological Theories .................................................................................................................... 41 The Role of Nationalism in Sporting Institutions ......................................................................... 47 Sport, Nationalism, and Print Culture ........................................................................................... 60 Chapter 3: Research Methods ....................................................................................................... 66 Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 67 Significance and Justification ....................................................................................................... 69 Research Design ............................................................................................................................ 70 Quality Criteria ............................................................................................................................. 75 Chapter 4: Results ......................................................................................................................... 81 Fan Behaviour and the Use of National Symbols ......................................................................... 82 Prestige, World Recognition, and Expectations of Success ......................................................... 86 General Elements of Croatian Nationalism .................................................................................. 91 Negative Nationalism .................................................................................................................... 94 Invented Tradition and the Political Importance of Soccer .......................................................... 97 Discussion ................................................................................................................................... 102 Chapter 5: Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 106 Implications and Future Research ............................................................................................... 111 References ................................................................................................................................... 116 Soccer & Croatian Nationalism 1 Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION Throughout modern history, there are many instances in which nation states have used sport to promote their individual national identities. Such is the case in several of the successor states to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Kosovo (though Kosovo is not universally recognized as a state). In this region, religious and ethnic identification often intertwine: Slovenia and Croatia are predominately Roman Catholic, Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro are predominately Eastern Orthodox Christian, Kosovo is predominately Muslim and Bosnia and Herzegovina is a mix of Muslims, Orthodox and Roman Catholic inhabitants. A nation historically under communist rule, in 1990 Yugoslavia witnessed the beginning of what quickly became one of the worst wars to plague Eastern Europe. In that year, communists had been voted out of power in both Croatia and Slovenia, eventually leading to their rebellion for independence (Sack & Suster, 2000). The identity of a nation can be reflected and enhanced in various ways; however, it is important to examine the extent to which the members of that nation identify with its beliefs, values, symbols, and cultural ways of life. Individuals who are willing to voluntarily pledge themselves to a nation state and make sacrifices in the name of that nation state have committed themselves to civic nationalism. This means that these individuals symbolically represent the importance of their particular nation state through the sharing of its community and culture, regardless of whether they were born there. However, during the 1990s another variant of nationalism, ethnic nationalism, prevailed Soccer & Croatian Nationalism 2 in Croatia. Ethnic nationalism is an exclusive form of nationalism which emphasizes shared values and norms of a nation or people as opposed to a state. In other words, ethnic nationalism can be described as an identity that ‘runs through the veins’ (Goksoyr, 2010). Although Croats and Serbs lived in the same state since the formation of Yugoslavia in 1918, a majority of each group defined themselves as belonging to the ethnic culture into which they were born. Regardless of which region of former Yugoslavia they inhabited, Croatians were Croatian and Serbians were Serbian, and thus, ethnicity was all that mattered in terms of identity. Statement of Purpose The specific purpose of this study is to investigate the media representation, specifically newspapers, of Croatian nationalism in the weeks leading up to, during, and the weeks following the country’s third place victory in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. There have been countless examples in recent history of the ability of the media to play an important and sometimes leading role in the construction of national communities while covering sport. Media discourse, in other words, has