A Beautiful Game—Oral Narrative and Soccer

Abstract

This study looks at the storytelling of a retired professional soccer player. It is my intent to analyse this oral narrative event, looking at the structure or formal organisation of the text (the morphology) as well as the performance techniques of the telling. Although a personal story, in its structure it is much like a wonder tale (or märchen). This analysis will, I believe, suggest ways narrative is shaped by folkloristic structures that thereby attract the listener and encourage the listener's contribution to the narrative performance. Similar techniques and responses can be observed in written and read texts. The study will also suggest how sports, particularly team sports like soccer, have a narrative structure of their own, which could partly explain another aspect of their appeal and enjoyment for many.