Korean sporting nationalism in the global era: South Korean media representation of the 2004 Athens summer Olympic games

The purpose of this thesis is to Investigate the relation between mega sport event, media and Korean nationalism in the context of globalisation. Attention is paid to the South Korean media coverage of the 2004 summer Athens Olympic Games. A process/figurational sociological perspective was implemented in making sense of the global-national nexus in the media coverage of the Olympic Games. In this examination, the way In which the media promote the notion of globalisation and reinforce the Idea of nationalism was addressed. The South Korean newspapers and television coverage were investigated In a qualitative manner, and thematic, discourse and visual/image analysis were carried out. Using an inductive thematic coding system, themes and types of media discourse of globalisation and nationalism were identified. The research findings showed that the media coverage of the Olympic Games contains elements of both globalisation and nationalism. While the notions of a global festival and global fraternity were frequently used in celebration of emergence of a global society at the Olympic Games by the media, nationalistic discourses and expressions also accounted for a significant portion of the media coverage of the Olympic Games. It was also found that other notions such as Olympic ideals, war on terror and capitalist ideology were also central elements of the media coverage of the Olympic Games. In addition, the research outcome also points out that a unitary Korean nationalism, which supports reunification of the divided Korea, is becoming a dominant form of discourse on inter-Korean relations within South Korea. Therefore, a unitary Korean nationalism is evident in the South Korean media coverage of the Olympic Games. Overall, the research findings suggest that a media version of the Olympic Games is both a supreme facilitator of globalisation and an ultimate identifier of the nation.