SPORTS MEGA-EVENTS AND CULTURE

Abstract

Sports mega-events or international sports events with large-scale audiences have offered fruitful opportunities for host nations to promote their national and cultural identities. The purpose of this research is to study the semiotic construction and representation of Vietnamese cultural identity through the 31st SEA Games Opening Ceremony (2021) and its link with the perspectives of the text producers towards those representations and relevant socio-cultural context. Theoretically, this study employed the semiotics theory, the social construction of reality theory, the concept of national symbols, and the Vietnamese cultural elements model as an analytical framework. Methodologically, this qualitative research adopted a textual analysis of the 31st SEA Games Opening Ceremony, using the recorded video of the ceremony as primary data. To enhance the credibility of the textual analysis, this study also utilized online videos and articles interviewing the text producers as secondary data sources. The socio-cultural context of Vietnam was also drawn to explain such representations. The results of this study revealed that the Vietnamese cultural representations in this ceremony are not only exclusive to Vietnam but are the inclusion of Vietnam and Southeast Asia’s culture. The text producers deliberately selected or designed the cultural representations to relate Vietnam’s culture to Southeast Asia sports games or Southeast Asian cultures. Since this is a sports mega-event, the cultural meanings emphasized not only Vietnamese cultural identity but promoted sports spirit and encourage a solid connection among participants. Furthermore, the concept of national symbols and regional symbols were of great importance in constructing such international and intercultural content.