The 1904 St. Louis Olympic Games and Anthropology Days by Brownell, Susan;

Short description:

This book is the first in-depth analysis of the 1904 St. Louis Olympic Games and Anthropology Days. Arguing against the conventional wisdom that the 1904 Games were a shameful event that almost killed the Olympic Movement, it argues instead that the 1904 Olympics sent the Olympic Games off onto a different trajectory that discouraged the cultural diversity of indigenous sports and led to the global mono-culture of Olympic sports that exists today.

This book was previously published as a special issue of International Journal of the History of Sport

Long description:

The 1904 Olympic Games and Anthropology Days were a pivotal point in the history of American anthropology and of the Olympic Games. This is because they were anchored within larger transformations in global culture - namely, the decline of empire, the rise of the nation-state, and the ensuing decline of the Victorian evolutionary racial schemes. Anthropology Days reflected the notion of ?culture'; whilst the Olympic events and other sports reflected nation-building.

But Anthropology Days were considered an embarrassment by Pierre de Coubertin - the founder of the modern Olympics. Because of their association with them, today's sport historians often regard the St. Louis Olympics as a shameful event which almost killed the Olympic Movement.

St. Louis 1904 became a counter-model that sent the Olympic Games off onto another trajectory that emphasized a global sports mono-culture contested by athletes representing nations, and discouraged the cultural diversity of indigenous sports. As part of this shift, international sport was transformed from a carnivalistic spectacle into a serious ritual. The "laughter of the pygmies" would no longer find a space in sport, which became a "ritual of records."

This book was previously published as a special issue of International Journal of the History of Sport

The 1904 Olympic Games and Anthropology Days were a pivotal point in the history of American anthropology and of the Olympic Games. This is because they were anchored within larger transformations in global culture - namely, the decline of empire, the rise of the nation-state, and the ensuing decline of the Victorian evolutionary racial schemes. Anthropology Days reflected the notion of ?culture'; whilst the Olympic events and other sports reflected nation-building.

But Anthropology Days were considered an embarrassment by Pierre de Coubertin - the founder of the modern Olympics. Because of their association with them, today's sport historians often regard the St. Louis Olympics as a shameful event which almost killed the Olympic Movement.

St. Louis 1904 became a counter-model that sent the Olympic Games off onto another trajectory that emphasized a global sports mono-culture contested by athletes representing nations, and discouraged the cultural diversity of indigenous sports. As part of this shift, international sport was transformed from a carnivalistic spectacle into a serious ritual. The "laughter of the pygmies" would no longer find a space in sport, which became a "ritual of records."

This book was previously published as a special issue of International Journal of the History of Sport