1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910918596803321

Autore

Ampudia de Haro Fernando

Titolo

The Civilising Process of Portuguese Bullfighting : Warriors, Courtiers, Professionals...and Barbarians? / / by Fernando Ampudia de Haro

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cham : , : Springer Nature Switzerland : , : Imprint : Palgrave Macmillan, , 2024

ISBN

9783031736131

9783031736124

Edizione

[1st ed. 2024.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (199 pages)

Collana

Palgrave Studies on Norbert Elias, , 2662-3110

Disciplina

306

Soggetti

Culture

Sociology

Social sciences - Philosophy

Sociology - History

Ethnology - Europe

Sociology of Culture

Sociological Theory

Social Theory

History of Sociology

European Culture

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di contenuto

1. The Historical Sociology of Bullfighting -- 2. Bulls in the Medieval Period -- 3. The Emergence of Dexterity: The Courtesan Bullfight -- 4. The Construction of the Spectacle: Professional Bullfighting -- 5. A Civilising Sensibility -- 6. Conclusion: The Civilising Process of Bullfighting.

Sommario/riassunto

This book uses Norbert Elias's theory of the civilising process to provide a sociological and historical study of Portuguese bullfighting. Its aim is to understand how bullfighting is historically configured according to the transformations undergone by the society in which it takes place. This means that bullfighting is approached in terms of its relationship with factors such as social structure, state power, the



control of violence and the sensitivities and behaviours of different social groups. Its evolution and its construction as an activity can only be explained if we look at these factors from a sociological perspective that takes into account the passage of time. Such a view allows us to think of bullfighting in process and figurational terms. It means going back a thousand years and reconstructing a journey that, overall, cannot be described as a simple succession of facts, laws, dates and decisions by great personalities. On the contrary, this book argues it is a journey subject to the logic of changes in society, power relations and patterns of behaviour considered suitable for social life. And, as a path, it is not defined at random. It has a direction: bullfighting has been moving towards formalisation and pacification for centuries.This book is of special interest to students and scholars of sociological theory, historical sociology, Eliasian theory, and human-animal relations.