ABSTRACT
Tennis is one of the world’s most popular sports, as levels of participation and spectatorship demonstrate. Moreover, tennis has always been one of the world’s most significant sports, expressing crucial fractures of social class, gender, sexuality, race and ethnicity - both on and off court.
This is the first book to undertake a survey of the historical and socio-cultural sweep of tennis, exploring key themes from governance, development and social inclusion to national identity and the role of the media. It is presented in three parts: historical developments; culture and representations; and politics and social issues, and features contributions by leading tennis scholars from North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
The most authoritative book published to date on the history, culture and politics of tennis, this is an essential reference for any course or program examining the history, sociology, politics or culture of sport.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|1 pages
Historical developments (commercialization, professionalization and the creation of tennis celebrities, globalization and internationalization of tennis)
chapter 9|10 pages
The female hero through the cultural lens
part II|1 pages
Culture and representations (gender, race, class, the arts and media)
chapter 17|10 pages
Fashioning competitive lawn tennis
chapter 21|11 pages
Your racquet should do the talking
chapter 22|11 pages
“You’ve come a long way baby” but when will you get to deuce?
chapter 23|10 pages
Veiled hyper-sexualization
chapter 24|10 pages
Warriors of the court
chapter 25|11 pages
Historical changes in playing styles and behavioural etiquette in tennis
chapter 26|10 pages
The seductions of modern tennis
chapter 27|10 pages
Understanding competitive tennis through literature and the visual arts
chapter 30|11 pages
Tennis and the media
part III|1 pages
Politics and social issues (governance, nationalism and identity: race, gender, class and disability)
