Essences of Post-Olympism: A Prolegomena of Study

In this chapter, the author identifies what she calls ‘essences’ of which such post-Olympism and Olympic Games are composed. The author discusses within include performativity, aesthetics, transcendence and acceleration. She writings about these essences are preliminary, a prolegomena for the study of post-Olympism. The author realizes that virtual/cyber Olympism and its potentials for idealizing and reconstituting communities, bodies and landscapes can be romanticized with ‘fantastic powers’. Photography, videography, literature, cinematography are as much sites of ‘Olympism’ today as are traditional sport sites and cultural spaces, such as the biomechanics lab or the football field. Speed, time, space and acceleration are central issues in the ontology of post-sport and festivals. Recall again classic Olympism: physical and moral excellence, link between sport and aesthetics, cultural museums, fashion shows, film festivals, music, arts, devout and exuberant sense of religious piety.