Fans, Romans, Countrymen: Soccer Fandom and Civic Identity in Contemporary Rome

Abstract

In Italy, football (soccer) fandom is an important site on which to construct and perform civic identity. Based on a constructivist, communication-oriented understanding of identity, this article uses ethnographic data to illustrate how Roman soccer fans construct civic identity through various communicative forms, such as verbal performance and visual display. The essay draws from museum studies scholarship to highlight the role of fan-created displays in the construction of fan identities. Ultimately, the fans’ notions of place and local identity emerge through these discursive practices.