"Leões" da sportmania: um estudo sobre a formação e a sociabilidade de uma torcida organizada do Sport Club do Recife

Abstract

This thesis aims at the ethnographic study on the formation and sociability of organized supporters of Sport Club do Recife. The object of this study is SPORTMANIA soccer fan club, which arose in the 1980s, was extinguished in the 1990s, and resurfaced in the late 2000s. The research was conducted with participants of the first and second fans formations, with a total of ten interlocutors (nine men and one woman) through participant observation and complementary semi-structured interviews. The ethnographic field basically comprised the Adelmar Costa Carvalho stadium in Ilha do Retiro, other dependencies of the club and some supporters’ residences. Also, as a field of interaction with the interlocutors, digital pathways such as e-mails and mobile messaging applications can be cited. In these spaces, we observed socialization, interaction, conflicts and hierarchies that permeate the relations of the team supporters. The reflections are based on a theoretical contribution that includes Simmel (1950) to think conflict and sociability, Magnani (2002) to think circuit and sociability and Lévi-Strauss (1986) to problematize totemism, among other authors. In this context, the characteristics of belonging to SPORTMANIA are highlighted in both fans formations, as well as the significance and importance that supporters attribute to having a "lion" as the team's mascot, considering the context of Pernambuco and Brazil. The importance of this ethnographic research lies in the study of the resurgence phenomenon, attesting that the fan club formation is based on the desire to cheer for the team, meet friends and socialize.