Towards understanding: antisemitism and the contested uses and meanings of ‘Yid’ in English football
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Abstract
This article addresses an omission in the currently brief body of work on antisemitism in football and contributes to and advances wider sociological debates in the sub-disciplines of race and ethnicity, religion, linguistics and sport. The article examines antisemitic discourse in English football and in doing so, explains the different uses and meanings of ‘Yid’ in the vernacular culture of fans. While many conceive of ‘Yid’ as an ethnic epithet, fans of Tottenham Hotspur – Gentiles and Jews – have appropriated and embraced the term, using it to deflect the antisemitic abuse they are targeted with due to their ‘Jewish identity’. The study maps the contested uses of ‘Yid’ on a continuum to explain and demarcate between the nuanced forms of antisemitism in football. It makes central the cultural context in which ‘Yid’ is used, together with the intent underpinning its use, since epithets and slurs are not simply determined by their lexical form.
Topics
Main Topic: Antisemitism Antisemitism Football Sports Jewish Identity Jewish - Non - Jewish Relations
Genre
Geographic Coverage
Original Language
Volume/Issue
39(11)
Page Number / Article Number
1981-2001
DOI
Link
Link to article (paywalled), Towards understanding: antisemitism and the contested uses and meanings of ‘Yid’ in English football
PDF (via academia.edu), Towards understanding: antisemitism and the contested uses and meanings of ‘Yid’ in English football
Link to download in university repository, Towards understanding: antisemitism and the contested uses and meanings of ‘Yid’ in English football
PDF (via academia.edu), Towards understanding: antisemitism and the contested uses and meanings of ‘Yid’ in English football
Link to download in university repository, Towards understanding: antisemitism and the contested uses and meanings of ‘Yid’ in English football
Bibliographic Information
Towards understanding: antisemitism and the contested uses and meanings of ‘Yid’ in English football. 2016: 1981-2001. https://archive.jpr.org.uk/10.1080/01419870.2016.1140791
