The Communicative Practices of American Sport: The Trinity of Myth, Sport, and the Hero

• In Event: Myth and Symbol in U.S. American Culture

Abstract

This paper analyzes the communicative practices of American sport through the interplay of myth, sport, and the hero. It begins by outlining the predominant myths of sport in literature and then analyzes how the perception that athletics builds character is not supported by social scientific research. The paper ends by viewing sport through athlete transgressions that rip apart the myth of sport and the resulting dichotomy between the myth and the reality of sport.

Author

• Karen Hartman, Ashland University