Sports sociologist Robert Gugutzer is researching the atmosphere at public viewings. He and his students will examine and study the matches of the upcoming European Football Championships, and a small study should be available at the end of the seminar.
UniReport: Professor Gugutzer, in terms of sport, expectations for the European Championship in Germany were very low for a long time, but recent test match victories against France, among others, have changed the mood somewhat. Can the European Championship as a major sporting event be compared with those of previous years in terms of public interest?
Robert Gugutzer: Due to the recent successes, a kind of spirit of optimism has actually emerged, whereas a year ago there was more of a sense of crisis. At the time, it was hardly noticeable that anyone was looking forward to the European Championships in their own country. But frustration and anticipation quickly alternated. One thing is for sure: such major sporting events that take place in your own country certainly create a very different atmosphere to tournaments in other countries. If, as was the case recently, they take place in politically problematic countries and the games are played at inconvenient times, there is no greater anticipation. We speak of public viewing when the sporting event is broadcast in public spaces. A football World Cup or European Championship in your own country is in some ways the prerequisite for a special atmosphere to develop at all. And the fact that your own team has a chance of doing well in the tournament is of course also part of that.
This summer semester you will be offering a seminar on “Atmospheres in Sport”; as part of this seminar you will be conducting a small study with the students on “Atmosphere at Public Viewing”. Can you explain in general terms what the scientific interest in public viewing is?
From a sociological point of view, what is interesting about public viewing is that many people, some of whom have nothing to do with football, come together in an urban space to have an atmospheric community experience. Sociologically speaking, it is about the collective atmosphere of a significant social event. Strictly speaking, it is not just a sporting event. People take part in it to experience something, namely a special atmosphere. As a sports sociologist, I was surprised to find that very little research has been done on this so far. There is a gap in research, and not just on the subject of public viewing, but also on atmospheres in general. Atmospheres can be observed both microsocially, for example in a team, and macrosocially, i.e. across the whole country. We all remember the 2006 World Cup in Germany, which, from the point of view of many observers, created a very special atmosphere across the whole country. Atmospheres are therefore social phenomena and therefore sociologically interesting.
I suggested the topic to my students, who jumped at it straight away – probably because most of them know what it’s like to visit a stadium. The topicality of the upcoming European Championships was the deciding factor.
You just said that you don’t necessarily have to be a “real” football fan to enjoy public viewing. As we often hear, this aspect seems to bother precisely those fans who are intensively and permanently involved with football.
Yes, it is not just die-hard football fans who meet at public viewings of European Championships or World Cups. Football culture in Germany is primarily a club culture of fans who are often not interested in their own national team, but only in their club. There is now a fan club for the German national team, but this is not comparable in terms of fan importance. At public viewings, football fans from different clubs meet and ideally merge into a kind of national fan culture. But then there are also people who otherwise have little or no interest in football. Because football is so important in our society, you can’t get away from it. So many people may develop a random, rather superficial interest in what is happening. It fits in with our times, which are characterized by the eventization of sport and football in particular. Public viewing, like at a folk festival, includes certain clothing, music, food and drink, and rituals, as we know from the Oktoberfest. The sociologist Gerhard Schulze spoke of the “experience society” 30 years ago: We don’t just want to live our everyday lives, we want to experience something, to experience ourselves in the process. This works very well in a community. If you’re not interested in football, you go to a public viewing because you know people who are interested in football and with whom you want to have a good time. From a social perspective, it is immensely important that such opportunities for harmless, out-of-the-ordinary community exist. Sport is not about anything high-sounding or really important. As a sociologist, you can only welcome community building on this basis. Of course, an event like this, where the actual football match can easily fade into the background, is sometimes bitter for the football expert: you have to listen to people who have no idea but are commenting on the game the whole time – I know that all too well.
How do you proceed methodically, how will you analyse the events with the students? The best way to study atmospheres is ethnographically, i.e. through participant observation. You go to the place where the event is taking place and observe yourself and your surroundings.
This may sound simple, but it is overwhelming for students at the beginning. This is generally true for ethnographic work: the impressions that bombard you are immense. Knowing what is relevant and what you need to document is difficult. We will of course prepare this in detail in the seminar. We will develop categories of what could be relevant for the formation and development of a collective atmosphere. First of all, there is the space; a location directly on the Main, with the large screen in the water, is very different to a location on the Rossmarkt. Are the rooms closed or open, an area outside or inside the city? Are the people standing or sitting, how are they dressed, what utensils do they have with them? Are they equipped with horns or other instruments, is it full or empty, is it raining or is it unbearably hot?
Will the event take place in daylight and in the dark? Light has a very big influence on the atmosphere. How does the game play out? We will also conduct interviews on site. We are still considering whether to attend games with or without German participation. This of course influences our own mood and ability to perceive. The football biography of the ethnographic researcher is also crucial. Does the pairing represent a certain tradition, what do we perceive against this historical background?
Atmospheres are social phenomena that we notice. It has to do with the environment, with the situation, but also with ourselves. From a phenomenological point of view, it is an intermediate phenomenon that lies between subject and object. Therefore, objective conditions as well as subjective aspects (expectations, anticipation, worries, etc.) are examined. Participant observations meet qualitative interviews.
Ideally, you will have a study ready at the end of the semester?
Yes. Our basic assumption is that people go to public viewing because they want to experience something, namely a great atmosphere. The question is whether or how this will develop, because it is not certain. We want to look at what is necessary to create a special public viewing atmosphere and how it changes over the course of the game. For example, the score affects it. When does the mood change? Ideally, we will be able to create a typology of public viewing atmospheres. We will split up into several small groups that will observe in different locations. Some will conduct interviews with those present, others will primarily observe themselves, others the surroundings. I am quite confident that we will end up with an interesting finding – as I said, the field of research has not been explored very much so far, so something will definitely come out of it.
Quelle: Goethe-Universität Frankfurt / Dr. Dirk Frank
