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IN TRANSLATION
Soccer’s Literary Appeal
BY MARCOS VILLALOBO - TRANSLATED BY RACHEL BROWN ’16
IN COLLABORATION WITH NICOLÁS CAMPISI ‘14, PROFESSOR SHAWN STEIN
HAS PUBLISHED AN ANTHOLOGY OF SHORT STORIES AND AUTHOR INTERVIEWS
EXPLORING THE ROLE OF SOCCER IN LATIN AMERICAN LITERATURE. A REPORTER
FROM ARGENTINA INTERVIEWED STEIN FOR AN ARTICLE—TRANSLATED HERE— THAT
APPEARED IN THE FEBRUARY 6, 2015 EDITION OF LA MAÑANA DE CÓRDOBA.
T
HE SOCCER BALL
rolls past goalies without
goals, over cracked
pavements or in crowded
stadiums; it rolls through the
most striking and diverse
contexts. Literature can no
longer exclude it, and there are
an ever-increasing number of
texts written about the global
sport of soccer.
Such is the case that even
in the United States Professor
Shawn Stein, of Washington
College, has studied how this
phenomenon comes to life in
Latin America. Stein, with the
collaboration of Nicolás Campisi
[Washington College Class
of 2014], recently published
the anthology Por amor a la
pelota: once cracks de la ficción
futbolera (For the Love of the
Game: Eleven Stars of Soccer
Fiction), which includes stories
from eleven Latin American
authors. Among these are Sergio
Sant’Anna (Brazil), Selva
Almada (Argentina), Juan
Villoro (Mexico), Edmundo
Paz Soldán (Bolivia) and
others. This book provides
an impeccable selection that
is a delightful read for lovers
of literature—and of soccer.
La Mañana spoke with the
American professor about a
range of topics, all unified by a
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separation. Since then, I’ve
only stopped playing soccer
when I’m injured; like the time
I spent two years recuperating
from a surgical reconstruction
of a ligament in my knee,
which happened almost ten
years ago. With my age, and the
body I have, I probably should
have retired from the game a
while ago, but it’s something
programmed in my soul that I
still haven’t managed to shake.
You could say that my passion
for soccer began by playing.
MV: Why do you think soccer
isn’t as popular in the United
States as it is in a large part of
the rest of the world?
Professor Shawn Stein and Nicolás Campisi ’14 worked together
on an anthology of stories in which soccer is a leading character.
common theme: a love of the
game and its stories.
MARCOS VILLALOBO:
Considering that there isn’t a
great soccer tradition in the
United States, how did your
passion for this sport begin?
SHAWN STEIN: I entered
the world of soccer when my
parents chose to have me
join a youth team when I was
six years old, which is fairly
common for kids in urban and
suburban areas in the United
States. Interestingly enough,
my parents aren’t soccer people;
they’re not really interested
in sports in general. I suppose
they saw soccer as a good
way to distract me from their
SS: It’s a strange phenomenon,
but relatively easy to explain. It’s
almost impossible for soccer to be
as popular in the U.S. as it is in
most parts of the planet. There
are a number of different theories
and historical explanations about
the development of capitalism
in relation to sports in this
country. Essentially, the main
difference is that we don’t have
the phenomenon of a single sport
that dominates media attention,
we currently have three: football,
basketball, and baseball. Ice
hockey is also very important
here. But since the World Cup
SPRING 2015
MV: Who is your favorite soccer
player? I read that as a kid, you
wanted to be like Maradona.
Why?
SS: Yes, when I was young,
the only players that existed
in my consciousness were Pelé
and Maradona. Maradona’s
attitude and the way he played
the game were more appealing
to me. Today, with a greater
understanding of the history of
soccer, it’s much more difficult
for me to have a favorite player,
but, if I were threatened with
death to choose, I would say
Ronaldinho Gaúcho.
MV: Is it possible to be a fan of
soccer, but not of any specific team?
SS: This is almost a metaphysical
question, isn’t it? Interestingly, a
lot of people think that Borges
despised soccer, but I would
dare to argue that he gave up
any interest in soccer when he
became aware of the harmful,
blinding impact of the game’s
spectacle and its cult of winning.
Maybe it’s a result of being a
soccer fan in a country where
the sport isn’t prominent, but
it’s true to say that, more than
anything, I’m a fan of the game
itself. In football and basketball,
SPRING 2015
I’m an avid fan of the teams from
my state, Colorado. So I’m not a
complete alien. In soccer, I simply
don’t have a team; however, that
doesn’t prevent me from always
choosing a side when I watch a
game…
MV: In your studies of literature
in relation to soccer, what
did you find to be especially
interesting about this topic
within Latin America?
SS: The portrayal of soccer in
Latin American literature is a
phenomenon that can be traced
almost back to the sport’s arrival
to the continent in the late
1800s. However, throughout the
twentieth century, as modern
soccer was developing, there also
developed a growing tension
among intellectuals about the
social value of the sport. The
limited presence of soccer in
coexist in soccer, whether it’s
in a single game or a megatournament. Like any other
passion, sports have the same
power to generate patriotism
and fanaticism. This intense
fanaticism consumes our
identity, our thoughts, and
behaviors. Soccer specifically
has many more loyal fans than
any other passion in the world.
MV: I’ll ask you the question
that you ask various authors
in your book: “Do you see any
connection between the process
of creation, and the ways in
which one is a player or a fan?”
SS: That’s a question for artists.
I don’t know if I’m qualified
to answer that, but for me
it’s obvious that we all enjoy
a brilliant play, whether it’s
done by you or another player,
whether it’s written or read.
“PEOPLE ARE CAPTIVATED BY THE
DRAMA, COMEDY, AND TRAGEDY
THAT COEXIST IN SOCCER.”
the literature of the first half
of the 1900s interests me as
much as the boom period over
the last thirty or forty years. In
spite of the enormous literary
production relating to soccer in
the last few decades, the idea of
reading soccer fiction as a distinct
subgenre is relatively new. Within
this category, there’s a bit of
everything. My research focuses
on politics, violence, gender
relations, and memory. In addition
to my primary interests, I’m also
excited by the idea that soccer
literature allows the more soccerilliterate readers to learn about
perspectives and experiences of
soccer of which they’re unaware,
and would perhaps never attempt
to understand in the “real” world.
MV: Who are your favorite
“soccer” authors? Why?
MV: Why do you believe soccer
has such an intense impact on
people’s lives?
SS: That’s another phenomenon
that has a relatively simple
explanation. According to what
I’ve been finding, the literary
traditions of Latin America in
which soccer appears most are
from Argentina, Brazil, and
SS: People are excited by the
competition, drama, comedy,
tragedy, and humanity that
SS: That’s like asking who my
favorite Argentinean authors
are, or favorite Brazilian
authors, etc. The body of
soccer literature is enormous
and extremely diverse. I think
the quality of the eleven
authors in Por amor a la pelota
demonstrates just how difficult
that question is.
MV: Why do you believe that
there is so much soccer literature
in Argentina and, from what
I read of the various authors’
comments in the book, this isn’t
so much the case in other Latin
American countries?
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and the inaugural season of the
MLS in 1994, soccer in the U.S.
has been on a slow trajectory
towards competition with the
big three sports. Increasingly,
the success of both the men’s
and women’s national teams in
World Cup games is attracting
more interest, and with greater
interest comes greater investment
in the professional leagues. The
United States is the champion
of spectacle and performance,
and it also has a complex (and
talent) of wanting to think it’s
number one in all it does. For
the vast majority of Americans,
it is likely very difficult to learn
to enjoy a sport when our chance
of winning is minimal, as is the
case with the men’s team. In
comparison, the undeserved lack
of interest in women’s soccer is
a whole other topic, but that’s a
global phenomenon…
Stein and Campisi’s book
was released by Editorial
Cuarto Propio last October.
Uruguay. The resonance of their
World Cup titles in literary
production is natural.
MV: Academics have, for a
long time and in many places,
rejected literature about
soccer or soccer literature, and
Fontanarrosa or Soriano, for
example, weren’t recognized
during their lifetimes. Do
you believe that the fact that
authors like Benedetti or
Bolaño have written soccer
fiction was a blow against those
who were prejudiced against
these kinds of texts?
SS: I don’t think the stories of
Benedetti or Bolaño received
much attention in their
lifetimes, either. However, my
impression is that the reaction
against this kind of literary
prejudice is finally taking off.
See the original article at www.
lmcordoba.com.ar/nota/194310_lagente-se-apasiona-por-el-drama-lacomedia-y-la-tragedia-que-convivenen-el-futbol
Shawn Stein has a doctorate in
Latin American literature from the
University of California, Riverside.
Previously an assistant professor at
Massey University in New Zealand,
he is currently an associate professor
at Washington College, with a focus
on Latin American literary and
cultural studies.
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