Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The dialectics of sport and history

2023; John Benjamins Publishing Company; Volume: 10; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1075/ijolc.00050.mak

2214-3165

Godwin Makaudze, Vusi Musa Magongo,

Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy

Abstract This article explores the link between sport and history. It engages the linguistic landscaping and etymological analysis approaches to trace the origins of the names of stadia and their socio-historical significance. In-depth interviews and document analysis are used in the examination of five names of stadia: Somhlolo National Stadium, Mavuso Trade Centre Stadium, King Sobhuza II Memorial Stadium, Prince Wales Stadium, and Simunye Park Stadium. The findings show that the names of these stadia are a heritage, as past history and heroes are commemorated through them. Moreover, these self-given names, most of which are in the Swati indigenous language, make sense in the context of decoloniality theory. These observations have implications for further research as well as for onomastics.