Qu'est-ce qu'un champion ? La compétition sportive en Languedoc au début du siècle - article ; n°5 ; vol.45, pg 1047-1069

Annales. Économies, Sociétés, Civilisations - Année 1990 - Volume 45 - Numéro 5 - Pages 1047-1069
What is Champion Sports Competitions in the Languedoc Region at the Beginning of the Century.
Contemporary sports have developed meticulous procedures by which to designate their elite competitors through various kinds of championships. A study of Languedoc sports circles at the beginning of the century indicates the problems involved in and slowness of the institutionalization of these procedures: the latter were preceded by a model of competition based on challenges. Sports challenges are among the ancient forms of social competition valued in Mediterranean communities where modern sports and traditional games now meet up. The process of reinterpreting Anglo-Saxon sports as they spread geographically and socially throws into question the definition of sports as an autonomous field of practices, as well as its univocal function as a vector of cultu ral modernity.
23 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.