1st Edition

Diego Maradona A Socio-Cultural Study

Edited By Pablo Brescia, Mariano Paz Copyright 2023
279 Pages
by Routledge

279 Pages
by Routledge

279 Pages
by Routledge

This is the first book in English to closely examine the life of Diego Maradona from socio-cultural perspectives, exploring how his status as an icon, a popular sporting hero, and a political figurehead has been culturally constructed, reproduced, and manipulated. The volume looks at representations of Maradona across a wide variety of media, including literature, cinema, popular music,... Read more

Introduction: The Cultural Significance of Maradona

Pablo Brescia and Mariano Paz

Part I: Global Maradona

1. Maradona and Argentina: Four Takes

Pablo Brescia and Mariano Paz

2. Maradona and Spain: Mythologies of the Hero Narrative

David García Cames, Translated by Muireann Prendergast

3. Maradona and Italy: The Rise and Fall of the Man on His Own

Pippo Russo, Translated by Dolores Gadler

4. Maradona and Mexico: The Ecstasy and the Agony

Fernando Segura M. Trejo and John Williams

5. Maradona and Britain: An Unforgettable Affair

Raymond Boyle

Part II: Representing Maradona

6. Maradona and Literature: God Is Only Human

Pablo Brescia

7. Maradona and Cinema: Biopic, Documentary, Art Film

Mariano Paz

8. Maradona and Music: Soundscapes and Echoes of the Maradonian Song

Martín Virgili, Translated by Dolores Gadler

Part III: Reading and Writing Maradona

9. Spectres of Maradona: Chronicle/Fiction/Autobiography/Film

Ksenija Bilbija

10. The Maradona Story: Tropes in Biography and Autobiography

Alan Tomlinson

11. Argentinian Feminisms in the Light (and Shadow) of Maradona

Gabriela Garton and Julia Hang

12. Deifying Diego: The Church of Maradona and Beyond

Luca Bifulco

13. Writing Maradona

One and All

Martín Kohan, Translated by David Atkinson

God, the Era, and the Epic

Ana María Shua, Translated by Allison Febo

Language and Tears

Edgardo Scott, Translated by Ana Terrazas Calero

Saint Diego Maradona?

María Rosa Lojo, Translated by Allison Febo

M and M, to See or Not to See

Patricio Pron, Translated by Emma Byrne

Number Ten in Ten

Pedro Palou

Children of Maradona

Beatriz Sarlo, Translated by Ana Terrazas Calero

Biography

Pablo Brescia is a writer, critic, and Professor of Spanish at the University of South Florida, USA, where he directs the graduate program and teaches courses on contemporary Latin American literature and culture. His areas of research are the theory and history of short fiction and the intersection among science, technology, and literature in Latin America.

Mariano Paz is a Lecturer in Spanish and Subject Leader for Spanish at the University of Limerick, Republic of Ireland, where he is also an Associate Director of the Ralahine Centre for Utopian Studies. His research focuses on Latin American utopian and dystopian cinemas, science fiction, and popular culture.

'This text offers much to the academic specialist, the armchair sports watcher and those also interested in the broader issue of fandom and celebrity. With especially strong chapters on the Spanish and Italian dimension of Maradona’s career by Garcia Cames and Russo as well as  Boyle on Maradona and Britain, the work is destined to have a wide and long-lasting appeal. Brescia and Paz have also opened an avenue of investigation and analysis that could prove valuable in the assessment of other major historical sporting figures most notably Shane Warne, Mohammed Ali, Arthur Ashe and Colin Kaepernick, with respect to gaining a deeper insight into wider manifestations of popular culture and the growing impact of sport in moulding a key component of  evolving national identity, socio-political priority and nation-building.'

- Russell Holden, In the Zone Sport and Politics Consultancy