Football hooliganism, the death drive and Millwall fandom as symbolic masochism
Bleakley, Paul ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2512-4072
(2018)
Football hooliganism, the death drive and Millwall fandom as symbolic masochism.
The Journal of Fandom Studies, 6
(3)
.
pp. 225-241.
ISSN 2046-6692
[Article]
(doi:10.1386/jfs.6.3.225_1)
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Abstract
Despite their reputation for violence and hooligan behaviour, south-east London’s Millwall football club has sustained a strong fan base thanks significantly to the siege mentality that has developed around its supporters. This siege mentality is fuelled largely by the antipathy of wider society; by undertaking a Freudian analysis of Millwall fandom as it was during the zenith of the club’s notoriety in the 1970s and 1980s, it is possible to view this collective persecution complex as a manifestation internalized masochism described in the philosopher’s ‘death drive’ theory. Combined with a Lacanian interpretation of the death drive, it is possible to perceive Millwall fandom as a form of symbolic masochism, explaining to some degree the continued support for a team treated in a consistently pejorative manner.
Item Type: | Article |
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Research Areas: | A. > School of Law > Criminology and Sociology |
Item ID: | 27880 |
Notes on copyright: | This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Intellect in The Journal of Fandom Studies, the final published version is available at: https://doi.org/10.1386/jfs.6.3.225_1 |
Useful Links: | |
Depositing User: | Paul Bleakley |
Date Deposited: | 17 Oct 2019 14:33 |
Last Modified: | 10 Jun 2021 05:30 |
URI: | https://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/id/eprint/27880 |
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