La (ri)scoperta dell’identità attraverso il calcio: l’onda azzurra, il caso dei tifosi del Napoli che vivono in Europa

Abstract

Football is one of the most important social phenomena of the 20th and 21st centuries. It can be regarded as a kaleidoscope of human emotions, a stage from which to observe and study social reality. In the development of identity, sports are a means through which to create “Us” and “Them”. Football goes beyond the mere sporting field and through identification with a team, people can express their own identification with something that goes beyond sports: city, region, specific subgroup, social class or ethnic group. In this paper I use qualitative research methods and audio-visual techniques to analyse the case of football fans of Naples Football team living in Barcelona. Within the migratory experience, many Neapolitans consider football as an additional component to maintain a close link with their own origins. Football allows them to feed the sense of belonging and (re)discover old and new identity elements.