Romanticism, sport and cinema: Bobby Jones –a stroke of genius

Abstract

This text is based on the hypothesis that in

the representation of sport the main assumptions and

categories of Romanticism form its dominant narratives.

The Romanticism used the language not only to talk

about sport but also to generate feelings about it. In

this case, we will take this particular narrative of the

movie “Bobby Jones – Stroke of Genius” in order to

locate and interpretate the assumptions and cores of

the romantic conception. In Bobby Jones’s filmed

biography the basic aspects of Romanticism such as

the notion of the Genius; the anguish of the division;

the importance given to pleasure; the search for unity;

the authenticity and the high value put on nature as

well as its organic aspect are presented organizing

the narrative. The movie develops its ideas from the

perspective of enchanting the world again by setting

a higher value on aspects of sensibility rather than on

utilitarian ones. Sport, Golf especially in this case,

presents itself as the greatest means as well as the

greatest end of our whole realization as human beings,

in patterns that are familiar to Romanticism.