Kicking the Nation into Being: Sport, Myth, and the Making of a Malleable Hero in post-Yugoslav Croatia
Kicking the Nation into Being: Sport, Myth, and the Making of a Malleable Hero in post-Yugoslav Croatia

Summary/Abstract: This article examines the social construction of the former Croatian footballer Zvonimir Boban into a national hero over the last 35 years. Anchored in the so-called Maksimir riots of 13 May 1990 and Boban’s mythologised kicking against a Yugoslav police officer, the article argues that it was less his footballing skills than the discursively constructed narrative around his persona that cemented his herodom in contemporary Croatia. This article analyses the discursive construction of heroism in contemporary Croatian popular through two complementary methodologies: narrative analysis of how Zvonimir Boban made sense of his own experiences and his (perceived) public persona; and a (critical) discourse analysis of how public perception of Zvonimir Boban was constructed in public discourse. It ultimately shows how through social processes of heroisation, Zvonimir Boban became a politically malleable hero, an idealised symbol and embodiment of Croatianness.

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