Sports, Literature and Culture
A special issue of Humanities (ISSN 2076-0787).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 15
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
From Friedrich Ludwig Jahn’s nationalist Turnen movement to the rise of athletic stardom through mass spectatorship, from the poetic celebrations of the body in Expressionism to the politicized spectacles of the 20th century, sport has continually maintained a vital role in German literature and cultural imagination. It has served as a site for negotiating questions of identity, discipline, gender, and nationhood—whether in the idealized athleticism of Turnen at the turn of century, the fractured heroics of postwar narratives, or contemporary meditations on globalized sporting economies. Across literature, film, mass media, and philosophy, representations of sport reveal how physical performance transforms into a stage for broader social, aesthetic, and ethical battles.
This Special Issue seeks submissions that explore the intersections of sport, literature, and culture in the German-speaking world, from the 19th century to the present. In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following: sport and nationalism; the body and performance; gender and spectatorship; sport and politics in East and West Germany; athletic aesthetics; and post-unification or transnational sporting identities.
Please submit abstracts (≈300 words) and a short bio (≈100 words) to Rebeccah Dawson (bessdawson@uky.edu) by January 15, 2026. Accepted authors will be notified by February 1, 2026; full papers (6,000–8,000 words) submissions will be due September 2026 with anticipated publication in November 2026.
Dr. Rebeccah "Bess" Dawson
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Humanities is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- sport
- athlete
- star
- fandom
- spectatorship
- nationalism
- the body
- performance
- gender
- Germany
- athletic aesthetics
- transnational sporting identities
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
