Review: Fußball in der deutschen Kinder- und Jugendliteratur [Football in German Children’s and Youth Literature]

In lieu of an abstract: Football/soccer is the most popular sport in Germany, as is the case in many countries worldwide, and it has, unsurprisingly, been a staple feature in German children’s and youth literature (CYL) and media since the first half of the 20th century (see Geßmann & Reuter; Geßmann). Fußball in der deutschen Kinder- und Jugendliteratur [Football in German Children’s and Youth Literature] (2024), edited by Markwart Herzog and Claudia Maria Pecher, brings together studies by scholars of literature, linguistics, history of sports, media studies, and other fields on how this beloved sport has featured in German CYL. The collection grew out of the 14th Irseer Sports-Historical Conference, which sought to trace the cultural history of football in fictional German CYL since World War I. Although it does not cover all relevant aspects, authors, and texts, the publication seeks to respond to an ongoing interest in the meeting point of football and literature.