„Feuer und Flamme für den F.C. HANSA“: Linguistische Fußballfankulturforschung im öffentlichen Raum

Abstract

Although ultra culture in public spaces, in the form of graffiti, tags, and stickers, is ubiquitous, this particular aspect of football fan culture has remained linguistically unexplored. This exploratory investigation of ultra stickers aims to bring together the previously disconnected research areas of linguistic football fan research and linguistics. Specifically, the study examines which practices of staging, positioning, and spatial appropriation are realized through the visual medium of ultra stickers in public spaces. The data basis consists of stickers that were photographically documented in the following cities from November 2022 to February 2023: Dresden, Greifswald, Rostock, and Lübeck. In terms of appropriate data collection and analysis, a methodological approach combining ethnographic linguistic landscape with principles of grounded theory was utilized. It can be demonstrated that this visual medium is functionalized for various practices of staging and positioning. These range from the de-temporalization of the stadium experience, along with identity-building collective experiences, to the perpetuation of specific enemy images, and the perpetuation of hegemonic masculinity and the glorification of one’s own delinquent behavior or affinity for violence. Furthermore, an interactive dimension can be identified, which is revealed by the fact that these stickers are frequently embedded in multi-stage negotiation processes concerning territorial interpretation authority.

Keywords

• trangressive signs
• ultra culture
• football fan research
• public urban spaces
• subcultural spacemaking