Ninth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

In the context of mega sports event, the media, especially the Western one, plays a pivotal role as an intended and unintended producer of Orientalist stereotypes of host nation. This processed stereotypes the media generated has far-reaching power of influence today due to a huge number of people around the world who consumed the media in the era of globalization. Although many developing countries in the so-called global south today increasingly bid for or host the game, this topic of research has been significantly understudied. This study explores the process through which the Western media reproduced and reinscribed colonial stereotypes of postcolonial Brazil, examining the representation of the 2014 FIFA Brazil World Cup. I analyzed 10 promotion and commercial advertisement videos produced by FIFA, Eurosports and a variety of Western MNCs. By taking advantage of content analysis of the visuals, this study suggests that the Western media consistently represented four Orientalist colonial stereotypes of Brazil; Singing and Dancing Brazil, Sexual Stereotypes of Brazilian Ladies, Lazy Brazilians, and Poor Brazil.