Gra obok gry - widowisko sportowe jako zjawisko generujące wspólnotę ludyczną
The Game beside the Game: the Football Spectacle as a Generator of Ludic Community

Summary/Abstract: The football hooligan subculture is analysed as a ludic community, i.e. a group of people who participate in a specific type of play and game. When the participants achieve a bond transcending the here and now, also the permanency of the group transcends the mundane. And when participation in a certain game becomes the identifier for a group whose members practice the game in everyday life, then the group becomes a subculture. The competition between rival football fan groups takes the form of a ludic ritual, while the behaviour of these groups can be viewed as a unique social play. In his approach to this phenomenon the author refers to the meaning given it by Johan Huizinga and Roger Caillois. Incidents such as yob brawls, i.e. prearranged battles between two groups of hooligans, or more vicarious signs of rivalry, are viewed as manifestations of the world of social play. Suspended between "paidia" and "ludus", the two extremes indicated by Caillois, they demonstrate the abundance of ludic forms observed in the practices of football hooligans. The football clubs around which such groups rally assume the role of a sui generis community idea; what counts most is spontaneity of the group, identified by the club name, rather than the results achieved by the actuall football team. The football spectacle therefore becomes a mere catalyst for creating fan clubs, which, as far as the hooligans are concerned, are perfectly able to realise their goals while dispensing with this spectacle altogether.

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