Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, de ídolo a meme: a construção midiática de uma imagem

Abstract

Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, in contemporary times, would be the only worthy or faithful representative in activity - last but not least - of a dynasty of players who during some decades of the twentieth century had the genius of Leônidas da Silva, Pelé, Rivelino, Zico, Falcao, Romário, Rivaldo, Ronaldo “Fenômeno” and Ronaldinho “Gaucho”, practicing a soccer that charmed the fãs around the world, and by the letters of intellectuals and sports journalists, with diverse interests and many extra sportive, football art “that would be in the monopoly world of Brazil: the” country of football “. The practical result was the achievement of five titles in the largest world tournament that the governing body of football (FIFA) promotes on the planet; the first three titles were obtained between 1958 and 1970, the fourth title came after a hiatus of 24 years in 1994 and the last in 2002. Between the creation of the epithet “football art” in 1938 and today many social transformations occurred in society, geopolitics and, consequently, sport. The process of globalization and mercantilization of sport, being converted into a media spectacle, promoted by the communications revolution, the advent of the internet and social media, definitively impacted the relations of the triad idol - fan club, fragmenting identities and changing forms of representation and belonging. This thesis aims to analyze the resources of the Brazilian and Spanish sports press for the representation of the Brazilian player Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior. To understand the convergences and / or ruptures in these constructions, taking into account the socio-political and cultural differences between the two countries. Comparing the constructions between the organs of the two countries allows illuminating questions of identity and understanding the relationship between the media and the entertainment / soccer industry in both nations. One, understood as the “country of football” and the other as the owner of one of the most profitable and assisted leagues in the world. In order to do so, we analyze the sports narratives of Brazilian and Spanish periodicals selected based on their historical relevance, the weight of their sports publishing and distribution coverage. The time cut chosen for this analysis covers the periods related to the following events: a) FIFA Confederations Cup 2013; b) FIFA World Cup 2014; c) Olympic Games 2016; d) FIFA World Cup 2018. The collection of data analyzed focused exclusively on print media, specifically newspapers.