PositionPaper1 - Misner 1 Jillian Misner Of Virtue and...

Misner 1
Jillian Misner
Of Virtue and Horror
Dr. Kurtz
9/21/13
Sport’s Rhetorical Dynamic: Maradona as a National Symbol
It would be hard to claim that sports do not carry a great deal of cultural, social
and even political significance. The players and equipment are certainly important
operators in the equation of sport, for without bodies moving in real time and space, there
would be no game to speak of. However, the “speaking of” is the key, that is to say the
rhetorical dimension creates and gives meaning to sport in the cultural realm. When
LeBron James’ decision to switch teams aired on every major news channel, the rhetoric
of allegiance in sport was challenged. When Tim Tebow released public, overtly religious
statements, the rhetoric of neutrality in sport was challenged. To speak of sport as a multi-
faceted phenomenon is to understand the power of its rhetorical dimension. Through the
example of Archetti’s description of Diego Maradona as both an athletic and national
hero for Argentina, I will argue that sport is definitively rhetorical in the way narratives
give cultural significance to the games and their players.
Before delving into Maradona’s dramatic soccer career, it is important to address
to what the concept of rhetoric refers. While the art of rhetoric began as, according to
Purdue’s Writing Lab, the “ability to persuade”, this definition does not help explain its
role in sport. Instead, the contemporary academic realm explains defines rhetoric as “the
set of methods people use to identify with each other” (Purdue OWL). The process of