The noisy enthusiasm of the fans. Sound, space and sensations in the spectacles of sports in Chile, 1910-1949

Abstract

The sporting events that emerged in the first half of the 20th century, such as regular soccer championships and other sports competitions, represent the transition of practices to mass culture in the context of reform policies emanating from the State. Likewise, these events were daily instances of the popular experience, embodying the figure of the fan and his forms of participation, which were criticized and celebrated at different times by the press, incorporating a listening of the sensory regimes related with production of noise and collective yelling. Through a reading of newspapers and specialized magazines, this article proposes to underline the function of sound and senses in the conformation of sporting events in mass culture in Chile during this period. For this, the proposal seeks to analyze the spatiality of the stadium and the components of the soundscape, understanding the regimes of meaning and participation that relate bodies, sounds and culture. The conclusion is the need to listen to the fan, as well as the collective practices that link sound to the emotional overflow of the masses, in the context of political and aesthetic transformations throughout the last century.