Semester Award Granted

Spring 2025

Submission Date

May 2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Andrew Furman

Abstract

By using literary and cinematic narratives to explore changing cultural and ideological positions, my thesis demonstrates how the 1936 Berlin Olympics became a defining event of the intersection of sports and politics. Through analyzing Leni Riefenstahl’s Olympia, Richard Mandell’s The Nazi Olympics, and Elise Hooper’s Fast Girls, I show how distinct historical circumstances inform understandings of race, gender, and nationalism. The Berlin Games, used by the Third Reich as a platform for Nazi propaganda, stand as an example of how international sporting events become battlegrounds for ideological struggles and political messaging. This thesis argues that these narratives are not just records of the past; they are cultural artifacts revealing changing dynamics of power and anxieties. By placing sports within a broader socio-political context, I demonstrate that the notion of sports being apolitical is a myth, revealing an inevitable intersection of athletics with nationalism, social justice movements, and global political discourse.

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