One of the most disappealing narratives in Russian media has to be American football. American football is rarely, if ever, shown on Russian television channels. There is a strong disconnect that exists between the American culture and Russian culture concerning American football. Events such as the super bowl do not make the news in Russia and therefore are widely considered disappealing.
In The Structure of News, Galtung states that “the more distant a nation is, the more will an event have to satisfy the frequency criterion.”[1] American football is a relatively constant event in America. Therefore, based on Galtung’s conclusion, it will not create a news presence across the ocean. Also in the article is the criteria for a news article to have demand. The demand is evidently not present for American football events and therefore it does not make headlines.
In Narrative Interest as Cultural Negotiation, Herman and Vervaeck state that in order “for narrative interest to arise, the circulation on offer must to some extent coincide with the reader’s disposition as it derives from his or her cultural embeddedness.”[2] American and Russian cultures are completely dissimilar when it comes to American football. In fact, when I tried to search for “super bowl” on the main Russian news channel, I did not receive any results.[3]
As with most European countries, when “football” is mentioned, soccer is thought of. The disappeal of American football in Russia can explained by the criteria in the preceding paragraphs. Based on Prince’s definition in The Disnarrated, American football can be considered “unnarratable,” or “falling below the so-called threshold of narratability (it is not sufficiently unusual or problematic).”[4]
[1]Galtung, Johan/Ruge, Mari Holmboe. "The Structure of Foreign News." The Presentation of the Congo, Cuba and Cyprus Crises in Four Norwegian Newspapers.Volume 2 (1965), Page 66.
[2]Herman, L., Vervaeck, B. "Narrative Interest as Cultural Negotiation." NARRATIVE. Volume 17 (2009), Page 112.
[3]Результаты поиска: "супербоул." Первыи Канал. http://www.1tv.ru/allsearch/?s=%F1%F3%EF%E5%F0%E1%EE%F3%EB Accessed April 4, 2011. Internet
This is the result page of my search for “superbowl” on the Russian news website.
[4]Prince, Gerald. "The Disnarrated." STYLE. Volume 21 (1988), Pages 1-3.
I like the way you connect disappeal of American football in Russia with the course reading. I totally agree your discussion on why American football is unnaratable in Russia, and I found it very interesting. In Japan, since we have so many American influence on our culture, Super bowl is always reported in news and many high schools even have American football club, as well as soccer and rugby.
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