ROUND TABLES ABOUT SOCCER ON TELEVISION

AN ANALYSIS OF DISCURSIVE ETHOS

Abstract

We examine the discursive functioning of roundtable discussions about soccer within televised sports programs. The study begins with the hypothesis that the legitimacy of arguments in these debates depends, to a significant extent, on the staging of the enunciators’ image (mediator and commentators) through the way they enunciate. There are programs in which commentators disavow ‘clubism’ in favor of journalistic ‘neutrality,’ as well as programs in which commentators present themselves to the public as ‘representatives’ of the teams. As this research is grounded in Discourse Analysis, our aim is not to prescribe the ‘appropriate’ directions for soccer debates, but rather to verify how specific meanings are validated in these discourses. Drawing on Charaudeau’s theoretical framework related to language as staging and seeking support from Maingueneau’s and Amossy’s studies concerning the concept of ethos, we analyze the programs ‘Jogo Aberto’ (Rede Bandeirantes) and ‘Linha de Passe’ (ESPN Brasil).