Vad är tifo? En sociokulturell studie om tifons plats och mening inom den svenska supporterkulturen.

Abstract

Tifo could shortly be described as the visual arrangement that fans are performing before the game starts. The purpose with tifo is to honour the team and to create an atmosphere to the game. Earlier research has mainly studying fandom cultures but tifo has been neglected. The aim of this study is to investigate tifo in the male’s highest football liege in Sweden, Allsvenskan, by answering the following question: How is the Swedish supporter culture using tifo and what meaning does the supporters ascribe to it? This is methodology done with interviews and analysing pictures. Theoretically through symbolic interactionism, authenticity, singularity and the creativity complex. The results show that tifo should be unique, creative and authentic, according to the supporters. The result of my analysis implies that the work and result of the tifo needs to be authentic, otherwise it loses its meaning and singularity. Through tifo, the supporters are performing themselves as a collective identity due to their football club, city or their history. While performing tifos, the supporters is self-realizing themselves through a collective identity. The individual quest for being self-realized and unique in the society could therefore also been performed as a collective.