A Soccer Travel Story: the Myth of Maradona in the "idas y vueltas" of Caparrós and Villoro

Abstract

Until the last few decades, the genres of football and travel literature have been almost ignored by literature criticism, but both have become fertile sources of research in the academic realm of the human sciences. Soccer, especially in Argentina, weighs heavily on Argentine society and, according to Argentine sociologist Pablo Alabarces, serves as an essential tool in the creation of imaginaries and national narratives for today’s most powerful "cultural machine": television. In our subject of study, Ida y vuelta. Una correspondencia sobre fútbol, Martín Caparrós uses soccer as a Trojan horse to describe and highlight social problems and narratives, both in his own country and in those he visits during his travels. Focusing on the most obvious isotopy in Caparrós’s narrative, Diego Maradona as a national Argentine symbol, we will define the Model Reader and look for the underlying message of the traveler to his audience.