Ballgames of the North American Indians and in Late Medieval Europe

In: Journal of sport and social issues: the official journal of Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society, Band 15, Heft 1, S. 43-58

Abstract

At first sight North American Indian and ancient European games appear to be fairly different social activities. Observed closer though, these games and their texture reveal a surprising variety of common features. This paper represents a first attempt to analyse relevant structural similarities (homologies) systematically by focusing upon ball games, in particular. The historical cross-cultural (or trans-atlantic) enterprise is based on two exemplary accounts of folk football and racket, respectively; i.e ., they signify "le take off" of the present ethnographic report which employs a theoretical framework provided by the French Annales-historians and N. Elias' theory of civilization.