This earnest combat to which the natives of this country are so prone: an approach to ethnicity through wrestling in the Canary Islands (1840-1943)

Abstract

Sports in general, and traditional sports in particular, make a key contribution to the processes linked to the configuration of any identity. These activities can be studied as a reality «in its own right» (with a certain relative autonomy, as a part of a specific social subject), or as a diacritical social matter that enables us to characterize structures and social processes which, over time, could favour the changes, meanings and visions, whether considered legitimate or maligned, that are contained in these practices. This article deals with the traditional sport of lucha canaria [Canary-island wrestling], which has proved a revealing historical construct, to the extent that this popular game turned sports discipline underwent intense transformation during the 19th and early- 20th centuries. Its analysis provides an insight into the different social meanings, supports and principles associated with this activity, revealing a complex space of relations where the indigenous Guanche, historical tradition and an ongoing link with modernity are particularly relevant. All of this endorses the debate in recent decades in social anthropology and the social sciences regarding ethnicity, identity and sports.