Football,the Beast,and the Sovereign: The Politics of Joking Relationships in Spain

As of 2017, Spain is facing the greatest challenge to its post-Franco unity as Catalonia prepares to unilaterally declare independence in spite of a constitutional ban. The crisis of European sovereignty due to state–region antagonisms emerges forcefully in culture. A key domain for the contestation of power relationships is mockery and joking through the use of animal imagery. In particular, the jeering of the Spanish sovereign and the national anthem at football games catalyses spectacular debates over state–region relations, the freedom of expression, and the formation of political communities. The anthropological study of joking relationships in western urban societies helps problematise the concept of sovereignty and domination, vindicate the liberating and democratising potential of mockery, and identify some of their carnival spheres. Joking relationships cultivate a culture of resistance and have community making potential as they draw antagonistic parties into the kernel of a relationship.