The meaning of hands in soccer: political and social figurativity

Abstract

When we check the gestuality of hands of soccer players, we can note the presence of elements which are able to express meanings besides the communication limited to the sport practice, figuring political, social, and cultural actions. By using the discursive semiotics, it is possible to consider some rivalries between some soccer teams in world cups like a relational dimension of a strong destinator regarding a weak destinee, thus causing an effect of meaning that overpasses the soccer field. In this paper, three cuttings are presented, and their soccer confrontations represent meanings that surpass the context of four lines of an arena.