Joseph L. Arbena – Författare

A very exciting collection that explores sport in itself and also as a cultural phenomenon. In unexpected ways, bicycles are linked to modernization in Mexico, baseball takes on socialist overtones in the Yucatan, and the political outlook in Cuba and Nicaragua is explained in terms of their emphasis on sports. This reviewer especially liked Lever's article on Brazil, in which she demonstrates that sport helps complex modern societies cohere. Spanning a time period from the turn of the century to the present, the seven essays offer dramatic insights into Latin American societies; Robert Levine's conclusion presents comparisons with sports in the US. This new entry into the growing field of sport and social analysis is highly recommended for college and university libraries. ChoiceA collection of eight original essays by distinguished scholars, this book examines the role of sports, particularly soccer and baseball, in Latin America from the late 19th century to the present. The first study of its kind, Sport and Society in Latin America vividly demonstrates the ways in which sport can be used to study various historical and social processes and expands our understanding of sport as a major form of social behavior in Latin America. The contributors analyze the relationship of sport to foreign penetration and cultural imitation, urbanization and the rise of mass society, social divisiveness and social integration, class conflict, politics, and nationalism and revolution.

A unique contribution to the study of sport, this bibliography contains more than 1300 citations of books, articles, documents, unpublished theses, and other sources relating to the practice and study of sport in Latin America from before the European conquest to the present. The majority of the citations include annotations designed to convey information about the contents, special features, and interpretive or ideological thrust of the publication listed. Selected studies of sport and recreation in the Iberian peninsula and within the Hispanic communities of North America are also included, along with 40 unannotated general and theoretical studies which provide useful background information for those just beginning their study of sport. Materials cited are written principally in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, with some selections in French, Italian, and German.Following an introductory section on the theory and history of sport, the bibliography is divided into six principal parts covering indigenous traditions, the Iberian background of Latin American sport, the colonial era, the national period, Hispanic sports in the United States, and current Latin American sports periodicals. The section on the national period is further subdivided by country. In each section, the general criteria for inclusion was that the work in question offer some analytical perspective or contain material which would help to develop such a perspective. In cases where historical or analytical studies were unavailable technical manuals or rule books were included to demonstrate the practice of certain sports and games in certain periods. Subject and author indexes facilitate access to the main listings. As the most comprehensive list of sources available on the subject of Latin American sport, this volume will be indispensable to researchers and students in the field.

An impressive amount of literature, particularly literature on soccer and baseball, has appeared since Joseph Arbena's 1989 bibliography, An Annotated Bibliography of Latin American Sport. This new bibliography includes titles published during the past decade as well as a few items omitted from the earlier bibliography. Arranged topically, it includes sections on indigenous traditions, Iberian background, the National Period in Middle America and in South America, and Hispanic sports and sportsmen in the United States.