Football History, Museums and Sound Archives in Brazil: An Analysis of the Brazilian Former Goalkeeper Marcos Carneiro de Mendonça’s Testimonies (1967-1982)

Abstract

In a span of fifteen years, Brazilian former goalkeeper Marcos Carneiro de Mendonça (1894-1988) gave two testimonies to the Museum of Image and Sound. An icon of the so-called amateurism in the history of national football, having been Fluminense’s goalkeeper during the belle-époque, idol of the Brazilian team and protagonist of the first South American title of the modality in 1919, Marcos’ trajectory is a recurring target of academic interest among historians and researchers, whether in biographical and imagery aspects, or archival ones. This paper revisits the construction of the athlete’s persona and meaning, emphasizing less his biography, images and well-known scrapbook, held in the National Library, and more these two oral testimonies. The main purpose is to take the two testimonies together as if they were one, extended in time, to identify their continuities and discontinuities. Reusing this sound source helps us to understand the interviewers’ strategies in assuming the past and, on the other hand, allows us to understand how the interviewee himself builds the pioneering spirit of his sports figure and directs the episodes and aspects of the soccer technique, especially those of the goalkeeper position, which he considers worthy of remembrance, in consonance with the historical period and the institutional space in which the interviews were granted.

Presenters

Bernardo Buarque De Hollanda
Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, Fundação Getulio Vargas, Brazil

Details

Presentation Type

Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

Theme

Sporting Cultures and Identities

KEYWORDS

History of football. Amateurism. Memories. Interviews. Museum of Image and Sound