Some Lines Bring Us Together: Sport as Crisis Renewal in Bosnia-Herzegovina

摘要

Bosnia-Herzegovina continues to be a contentious country with an ethnically based power-sharing political structure. The advancement of the Bosnian Men's National Soccer Team to the 2014 World Cup Qualifier reshaped the rhetoric of an ethnically divided Bosnia, for at least a short time, to a message advocating hope, healing, and unity. In this analysis, we examine the national and international media coverage of the team to identify messages that are indicative of crisis renewal discourse-aligned with the optimistic and prospective focus on rebuilding through a shared vision. We suggest that renewal discourse, when filtered through the unifying discourse of sport, offers an appropriate and effective rhetorical strategy for advancing a cohesive national identity.