Paper short abstract:

This paper will focus on the circulation of the Scottish games and sports through time and space. The comparison between traditional games such as folk-football or “handba” and the athletic sports known as the “Highland games” will enlighten the changes which occur in the context of globalization.

Paper long abstract:

The circulation and differentiation of the Scottish games and sports through time and space offers a fine example to study the mobility, adaptation and reconstruction of traditional rituals and festivals in general. On the one hand, traditional games such as folk-football or "handba" remain closely connected with their original spaces and still take place at special times in the traditional Scottish calendar. On the other hand, the athletic sports and competitions known as the "Highland games" have followed the Scottish diaspora in the British Commonwealth and have eventually spread all around the world. While the former only address a limited audience in the original communities, the latter have become famous and address a massive audience worldwide. While folk-football and "handba" have remained strictly local, "Highland games" have become globalized sports. There is a paradox here, because the globalization of the "Highland games" contradicts the primitive image usually associated with the Scottish Highlands. In this communication, I will present some data collected both in Scotland and in the United States of America in order to show the changes in the ways the traditional Scottish games and sports are performed in their original context and abroad. I will especially show how the Scottish identity is disconnected from any spatial references in the new context of a global circulation of ritual patterns.