Title: An important type of unplanned spoken language : a brief history of football commentary in England and Germany
Source document: Brno studies in English. 2008, vol. 34, iss. 1, pp. [63]-78
Extent
[63]-78
-
ISSN1211-1791
Stable URL (handle): https://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/104247
Type: Article
Language
License: Not specified license
Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.
Abstract(s)
The aim of this article is to find out whether linguists are justified in saying that a large part of English and German football commentary consists of description rather than the mere creation of drama. This applies particularly to radio football commentary. In order to answer this question, some other aspects of football commentary language need to be addressed as well. First of all, a theoretical framework for the analysis of radio football commentary, and more generally of spontaneous spoken language, is presented. Then the conditions are outlined under which commentary is normally produced and the linguistic output shaped. Football commentary, in both England and Germany, must also be evaluated against the background of its historical development. Finally, views of some of yesterday's and today's top-flight commentators from the two countries are presented, which will show that the desire to describe, and the desire to avoid creating unnecessary drama when there is none, is something that all top commentators share.
References
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[16] Jung, Kerstin (2008) 'World Cup football live on Spanish and Argentine television: The spectacle of language'. In: Lavric, Eva, Pisek, Gerhard, Skinner, Andrew and Stadler, Wolfgang (eds.) The Linguistics of Football. Tübingen: Gunter Narr, 343–358.
[2] Back to Square One. (2006) 'Alan Green tells the story of radio football commentary'. BBC Radio 5 Live. Originally broadcast 25/12/2006.
[3] Beard, Adrian (1998) The Language of Sport. London / New York: Routledge.
[4] Bryant, Jennings, Paul Comisky and Dolf Zillmann (1977) 'Drama in sports commentary'. The Journal of Communication 27(3), 140–149. | DOI 10.1111/j.1460-2466.1977.tb02140.x
[5] Comisky, Paul, Jennings Bryant and Dolf Zillmann (1977) 'Commentary as a substitute for action'. The Journal of Communication 27(3), 150–159. | DOI 10.1111/j.1460-2466.1977.tb02141.x
[6] Davies, Barry (2007) Interesting, Very Interesting: The Autobiography. London: Headline Book Publishing.
[7] Dawson, Jeff (2001) Back Home. England and the 1970 World Cup. London: Orion.
[8] Delin, Judy (2000) The Language of Everyday Life. London: Sage.
[9] Die lange Nacht der Sportreportage. Ein Reporter ist auch nur ein Mensch. (1999) Deutschland Radio. First broadcast: 19 March 1999.
[10] Eggers, Erik (2004) Die Stimme von Bern. Das Leben von Herbert Zimmermann, Reporterlegende bei der WM 1954. Mit einem Vorwort von Manni Breuckmann. Augsburg: Wißner.
[11] Ernst, Bernhard (1925) 'Fußballspiel und Rundfunk. Erfahrungen der ersten Übertragung in Münster'. In: Der deutsche Rundfunk 3(46), 2982–2983.
[12] Green, Alan (2000) The Green Line. Views from Sport's Most Outspoken Commentator. London: Headline Book Publishing.
[13] Haslitzer, Willy (1982) 'Mein Gott, ich könnte weinen, bitte, bitte schießt ein Tor! Parteiische Reportagen, ein Radio-Hit in Kärnten'. Medien 4(2), 48–52.
[14] Herman & Tietjen. (2005) NDR Television. Originally broadcast 07/01/2005.
[15] Jenter, Steffen (1997) 'Alfred Braun. Ein halbes Jahrhundert im Dienst des Rundfunks. Sein Weg in den Medien und die Entstehung der Hörfunkreportage'. Rundfunk und Geschichte 23, 195–207.
[16] Jung, Kerstin (2008) 'World Cup football live on Spanish and Argentine television: The spectacle of language'. In: Lavric, Eva, Pisek, Gerhard, Skinner, Andrew and Stadler, Wolfgang (eds.) The Linguistics of Football. Tübingen: Gunter Narr, 343–358.