Sociologies (Jun 2009)
Éléments de composition identitaire des handballeurs professionnels : le cas des joueurs dunkerquois
Abstract
Basing it’s work on a methodological triangulation (interviews, observations and documentary analysis), this article attempts to understand the practice of handball through the eyes and the behavior of professional players. The approach views the player as a key to understand the team and so sees the broader complexity of identity in this sport. The results show that the professional handball player of Dunkirk is an "identity composed" marking a triple process of identity construction that contributes to the re-definition and re-appropriation of territories and areas of the game modern sports. Every day, the player is confronted with internal and external components to the game. They are urging him to interpret again his behaviour in three ways. First, he plays in the way of a handball player through a process of incarnation of the structural components of the game. But also, in the way of a professional player through a process of conversion in the way he plays. Finally, he plays in the way of Dunkirk player through a process of localization of the style of play through the integration and expression of regional values.
