Hit and tell – Swedish hooligan narratives

Abstract

Hooligans telling their own story represent a new voice in the sports narrative: the hooligan memoir. While this is a comparatively new phenomenon in Sweden, this literary genre has a long and productive history in England under the name hit and tell. The purpose of this article is to expound on the pop cultural expressions of hooliganism in Sweden, as epitomized by four hooligan memoirs. The article explores football culture, hooliganism, violence, masculinity and media in Sweden, as it is imperative to the understanding of hooliganism that it is analysed in the contexts in which it occurs. Research has demonstrated that hooliganism and violence in football and supporter culture have become increasingly visible in popular culture over the last few years. The article shows how hooligan culture is created in dynamic interaction between media, political reactions and cultural praxis, arguing that the cultural praxis of hooliganism is manifested through actual fights and, to an even greater extent, the various media narratives surrounding the hooligan subculture presented in the four memoirs.