Galeano ends his description of Jairzhino’s winning goal for Brazil in the 1970 World Cup with reference to the “hot breeze blowing from the south” (p. 155). As we discussed in class on Thursday, this can be read as an allusion to the Global South. Keep in mind that Brazil’s victory against England, a powerful European nation, came in the midst of national liberation struggles throughout (what was then known as) the Third World (this term has mostly fallen out of favor). What other references to the politics of imperialism can you find in Soccer in the Sun and Shadow? Why is soccer a useful lens through which to analyze the politics of imperialism? The “hot breeze blowing from the south” is a beautiful example of the use of metaphor. Can you find other examples of metaphor (or other literary techniques) in Soccer in the Sun and Shadow? Throughout Galeano’s Soccer in Sun and Shadow, allusions to modern imperialism are frequent and dense. Galeano details the history of the sport through his own eyes, eyes that had experienced brutal political regimes in Uruguay and had a true understanding of the political atmosphere surrounding momentous soccer matches of the last century and beyond.

The chapter “The 1962 World Cup” is particularly political as Galeano describes events surrounding the cup, some of which were incredibly interwoven with soccer. The author points to the fact that it was around this time that Algeria began the process of independence, having discussed it in class and upon further research, the Algerian Football Federation was not established until that year and would not become an official part of FIFA until 1963. Before its recognition, playing soccer matches as their own team was a form of defiance, an act of rebellion against their European oppressors. It is endlessly quotable. It is also insistent and clear-eyed in its politics: though Galeano dreamed of being a footballer when younger, he ended up a radical author, poet, journalist and analyst, whose works bent genre and form. While much of the book is devoted to the joyous and the magical, he never shies away from the myriad dark places, from the corruption and the cynicism. Sun and shadow, after all, and while some reviewers viewed his swipes as "heavy-handed," it's hard not to love a writer who can wonder "If God had time for soccer, how many directors would remain alive?" and not sound ridiculous in the process. Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2021-06-18 10:01:18 Boxid IA40138206 Camera USB PTP Class Camera Collection_set printdisabled External-identifier Perhaps the most famous line comes from the introduction (or "Author's Confession"), where Galeano's entire mission (and indeed life) is wrapped up as follows: A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular clarity.It is, at heart, a history book, one that takes as its subject the whole broad sweep of the game, from the "time of the Pharoahs [when] the Egyptians used a ball made of straw or the husks of seeds, wrapped in colourful cloths" to, in the 2003 re-printing, the World Cup in Japan and Korea, when: Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.

Writing isn’t brain surgery, but it’s rare when someone adept at the latter is also so accomplished at the former. Searching for meaning and purpose in his life, Kalanithi pursued a doctorate in literature and had felt certain that he wouldn’t enter the field of medicine, in which his father and other members of his family excelled. “But I couldn’t let go of the question,” he writes, after realizing that his goals “didn’t quite fit in an English department.” “Where did biology, morality, literature and philosophy intersect?” So he decided to set aside his doctoral dissertation and belatedly prepare for medical school, which “would allow me a chance to find answers that are not in books, to find a different sort of sublime, to forge relationships with the suffering, and to keep following the question of what makes human life meaningful, even in the face of death and decay.” The author’s empathy undoubtedly made him an exceptional doctor, and the precision of his prose—as well as the moral purpose underscoring it—suggests that he could have written a good book on any subject he chose. Part of what makes this book so essential is the fact that it was written under a death sentence following the diagnosis that upended his life, just as he was preparing to end his residency and attract offers at the top of his profession. Kalanithi learned he might have 10 years to live or perhaps five. Should he return to neurosurgery (he could and did), or should he write (he also did)? Should he and his wife have a baby? They did, eight months before he died, which was less than two years after the original diagnosis. “The fact of death is unsettling,” he understates. “Yet there is no other way to live.”

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Additionally, the second part to Galeano’s quote highlights the tug and pull that these colonial conflicts create. This “all knowing breeze” Galeano describes is history itself. History has unfortunately seen these conflicts play out countless times throughout its long gaze. However, this history is by no means static, and therefore, there have been constant winners and losers as each side of the struggle has continued to push and pull and make their way into the general ledger of history. Bill Shankly, the legendary Liverpool manager & an immortal figure in footballing history, was not much off the mark with this famous quote of his. And Eduardo Galeano's book seems to reverberate that sentiment, though in much spectacular detail. In the excerpt titled “From Mutilation to Splendor,” Galeano offers readers a glimpse of the politics of imperialism by describing soccer in the wake of the racial inequality stemming from imperialist activities. Galeano uses a metaphor to describe the way in which soccer has the potential to alter the life course for those that are born into misfortune. He states that “the ball is the only fairy godmother [the player] can believe in. Maybe she will feed him, maybe she will make him a hero, maybe even a god” (Galeano). Galeano uses this metaphor to understand the sport of soccer as a great equalizer — finding equality on the pitch during times of rampant inequality; that those who have been left disadvantaged by imperialism may gain the upper hand through soccer. There is a notion that soccer is, to an extent, beyond the influence of racial inequality, or as Galeano calls it, “a racial democracy” (Galeano). Some people think that football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that." Football is, in Pele’s words, ‘the beautiful game’ . Eduardo Galeano has written a series of football epiphanies from the global history of football when the rays of light have glittered from the passion of the game.

Pakistani children sewed the high-tech ball for Adidas that started rolling on opening night in the stadium at Seoul: a rubber chamber, surrounded by a cloth net covered with foam, all inside a skin of white polymer decorated with the symbol of fire. A ball to lure fortunes from grass. To describe this as a perfect book would be inaccurate, but it would also be irrelevant. It is a mess. It is deliberately a mess, a cavalcade of diversions and tangents and idle thoughts and musings and eulogies and excoriations and laments. Not all are memorable, perhaps not all are necessary, but it all amounts up to something unique, righteous and quite beautiful: history by turn as jumbled memory, as fractured story, as furious broadside, as hazy dream, and occasionally even as joke.The brief stories presented here make this book a perfect read at any time: queues, buses, bed, and naturally, the loo! The politics of imperialism can be found in all sections of the book. For me, the section entitled “A Few Numbers”. With European countries being the major colonizing force and the main imperialist forces, it makes sense that European teams had twice as many opportunities to win as did teams from the Americas during fifteen World Cups. Additionally, it is important to realize that Great Britain has four chances to win a single World Cup with England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales when no other team has any chances. As this section continues it becomes apparent for the 1994 World Cup that more “token countries” needed to be added to allow for each continent to have a fair representation. Quality of life means more than just consumption”: Two MIT economists urge that a smarter, more politically aware economics be brought to bear on social issues.

Throughout the book, Eduardo Galeano emphasizes several times the sharp divide between Europe and the Americas with the rest of the World, especially in terms of World Cup attendance. Often, it seemed that countries from the “south”, or developing, countries often rotate in terms of participation. But only because of pity from FIFA—and not with the perspective that they actually have chance of winning or returning to the next cup. This is likely rooted from imperialistic tendencies, where the invader believe that they will always will be superior to the invaded. Furthermore, a victory by a European nation in this cup represents the tit-for-tat pattern of European and South American countries alternating victories throughout the ’60s and ’70s. West Germany’s victory was bookended by Brazil’s in 1970 and Argentina’s in 1978. This shows that despite the emergence of South American nations as soccer superpowers with their own flair, European nations were equally as capable of innovating and adapting to new styles of the game.

There are many good books about football; there are few that have claims to greatness. Published 20 years ago, Soccer in Sun and Shadow — whose author, the Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano, died Monday at the age of 74 — stands among those few, and even those who might quibble with such status would have to agree that there really isn't anything to argue about. Even if you don't enjoy it, there's nothing else like it. However, the writer still retains some hope that all is not yet lost, thanks to the young & refreshing ideas of upcoming coaches who aim to emerge victorious while entertaining the crowds. In a moment of self-realisation, Senor Galeano confesses that "Years have gone by and I've finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good soccer. I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: 'A pretty move, for the love of God.' And when good soccer happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don't give a damn which team or country performs it." And he concludes the book on a nostalgic note, his final thoughts echoing that of every avid football lover - "soccer is a pleasure that hurts, and the music of a victory that gets the dead dancing is akin to the clamorous silence of an empty stadium, where one defeated fan, unable to move, sits in the middle of the immense stands, alone." As I read Galeano’s work, I noticed the intermittent focus on the global south and how the power dynamics between the South American countries and their former colonizers played out on the pitch. In the discussion of each World Cup, Galeano notes how many participants came from each continent, frequently framing those from the Global South as invaders and conquerors of European soccer. In many of these South American countries, soccer was a symbol of power. As outlined in “Soccer and the Generals,” soccer was a universal expression of power, a way for dictator’s to firm their grasp on the nation. Extrapolating this metaphor, and we can understand that, when countries from the Global South beat the Europeans, they were retaking power, leveling the playing field after generations of exploitation and colonization. Galeano’s chapter on “The Second Discovery of America” relates the Uruguayan championship in the Olympics to the Europeans ‘discovery’ of the west. Uruguay became an a source of untapped riches where Europeans could go to “mine” both talent and tactics from the emerging soccer nation. Just like with their discovery of the west it sparked a fascination with something new and dramatically changed the balance of the world as they knew it. When Europeans discovered the America’s it forced them to redraw their maps of the world; similarly, when Uruguay found international success it forced the to redraw their tactical maps of how to best play football. Galeano has a style of a great left half. He constantly switches the direction of play. His observations are acute. He delivers with an air of insouciance which cannot mask his mastery'