Surfing Identity: Definitions, Hybridity, and Permeability in Surf Studies
Surfer l’identité : définitions, perméabilité et hybridité dans le champ des Surf Studies
Published on Monday, July 29, 2024
Abstract
We welcome all fields of study related to surf as well as professionals. The objective for this day is to bring researchers from different horizons to analyze and reflect upon the multifaceted definitions and permeability of identity, observable in the practice, perception, and representation of surfing, whether historical or contemporary. In order to open the scope of exploration, this conference will pursue an interdisciplinary approach involving researchers and scholars from across the international scientific community, as well as doctoral students preparing research projects within the field of Surf Studies.
Announcement
Argument
Surf Studies shows great promise as an expanding field of research. Despite having been marginalized in the academic world, studies centered on surf offer a wide variety of subjects and approaches including history, literature, sociology, geography, archeology, ethnology, Gender Studies, and many other disciplines. Thinking about surfing is reflecting on the way it is practiced, perceived and conceived throughout the world, as a sport, but also as a cultural practice. More than a sport, surf brings communities and individuals together in multiple locations and environments. As such, studying surfing brings us to reconsider colonial, social and racial relations, as well as phenomenon of cultural reappropriations and gender roles within this context.
We suggest exploring the notion of identity in surfing through its different facets: personal, social, cultural, racial, ethnic, and gender. This day seeks to reflect on how the practice and interpretation of surf culture contribute to the construction of personal identities, influencing the perception of the body in physical activity and self-image. However, we also question the extra-personal, social, and cultural dimensions of surfing since surfing transcends the realm of individuality, being rooted in ancestral, tribal, or community traditions. Is there a “surf identity” just as there is a “surf culture” if such a culture exists?
Considering identity as a fundamentally fluid concept — since it depends on the codes and interpretations that shape it and which members of a group perceive as common to all (Barth, Turner) — it would be interesting to analyze to what extent surfing relies on codes, norms, and hierarchies that are more or less negotiable depending on the context of the geographical and social space in which it is cultivated and evolves. We thus propose to explore the impact of local cultures on surf spots, the appropriation and adaptation of practices from other regions, and the integration of traditional practices in a modern framework.
Surfing, as a ground of negotiations and encounters, becomes a hub of hybridizations and intersections of social, ethnic, and gender aspects that contribute to the formation of subcultures while aiming to transcend them. Research in Surf Studies focuses on the dynamics of inclusion and exclusion, particularly through the lens of Gender Studies and intersectionality. Women remain underrepresented despite evolving practices (Comer, Onken). We propose to examine these dynamics to better understand the challenges and opportunities that influence the experiences of female surfers and other groups considered as minorities.
Today, the ecological crises faced by our societies are causing rising sea levels and altering the relationship of coastal communities with the seas and oceans, a relationship rooted in ancestral traditions. Ocean acidification and global warming impact aquatic life, which brings us to rethink human’s relation to nature. Consequently, surfing has to be adapted to new environmental concerns, while preserving its traditions, and contributing to the transmission of communities’ identity.
This conference will take place at the Doctoral School Montaigne Humanités at the Université Bordeaux Montaigne. We welcome all fields of study related to surf: Cultural Studies, sport, literature, cinema and visual arts, musique, history, Gender Studies, ethnology, anthropology, ecological studies, and so forth, as well as professionals. The objective for this day is to bring researchers from different horizons to analyze and reflect upon the multifaceted definitions and permeability of identity, observable in the practice, perception, and representation of surfing, whether historical or contemporary. In order to open the scope of exploration, this conference will pursue an interdisciplinary approach involving researchers and scholars from across the international scientific community, as well as doctoral students preparing research projects within the field of Surf Studies.
The event will be held in French and English. It will take place in person for those able to travel to Bordeaux, and we will offer a hybrid format suitable for international participants. Special emphasis will be placed on presentations offering a multidisciplinary and transnational approach.
Proposed topics:
Surf history and sociology
- History of surf
- Identities on the move
- Creoleness and intersectionality
- Anthropological and ethnological approaches
Geopolitical, geographical, and languages
- Political issues
- Geographical spaces (surf in the Pacific, Asia, Europe, Africa, the Americas, …)
- Environmental questions
- Languages and linguistic dimensions around surf
- Communication networks
Literature, artistical and cultural approaches
- Literary representations
- Cinema and visual arts
- Fine art and artistic expression
Submission guidelines
If you want to present a paper, please submit a 400-word abstract (in French or English) with 3 to 5 key words, as well as a short biobibliography to jesurfstudies@gmail.com.
The deadline for submissions is October 25th, 2024.
The event will be divided into several panels. Speakers will have 20 minutes to present their papers, followed by 10 minutes of questions and discussion.
Please note that the organizing committee will not be able to finance participants’ travel expenses, except in exceptional cases. Therefore, we will prioritize in-person participation as much as possible, but we will adapt to a remote format for presentations if necessary.
Indicative bibliography
Augustin, Jean-Pierre. Surf Atlantique. Maison des Sciences de l’Homme d’Aquitaine, 1994.
Comer, Krista. Surfer Girls in the New World Order. Amazon, Durham, NC, Duke University Press, 28 Sept. 2010.
Falaix, Ludovic. « Le surf à Biarritz : de la mise en scène d’une histoire évènementielle à l’emprise sociospatiale d’une culture sportive ». Mémoire de Biarritz, Cairns Éditions, 2013, pp.47-55.
Ford, Nick, and David Brown. Surfing and Social Theory: Experience, Embodiment, and Narrative of the Dream Glide. Routledge, 2006.
Carey-Penot, Frédérique. Récits, images et marketing des territoires du surf en Irlande: lectures mythopoétiques d’un surflore irlandais. Université Michel de Montaigne - Bordeaux III, 2021. Thèse de doctorat.
Einzig, Lara, et al. Women Making Waves: Trailblazing Surfers in and out of the Water. Ten Speed Press, Random House, 2022.
Gardinier, Alain. Les Tontons Surfeurs : aux sources du surf français. Atlantica, 2004.
Guibert, Christophe (dir.). Les mondes du surf. Transformations historiques, trajectoires sociales, bifurcations technologiques. Pessac, Maison des sciences de l'homme d’Aquitaine, 2021.
Laderman, Scott. Empire in Waves : A Political History of Surfing. Berkeley, University of California Press, 2014.
Moser, Patrick. Surf and Rescue: George Freeth and The Birth of California Beach Culture. University of Illinois Press, 2022.
Onken, Rachel, et al. « ‘Between the Flags’: Women’s Participation in Surf Lifesaving Sport in Aotearoa New Zealand ». Sport, Education and Society, juin 2024, pp. 1‑14.
Walker, Isaiah Helekunihi. Waves of Resistance : Surfing and History in Twentieth-Century Hawaiʻi. Honolulu, University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2011.
Warshaw, Matt. The History of Surfing. San Francisco Chronicle, 2010.
Subjects
- History (Main category)
- Society > Sociology
- Mind and language > Thought
- Society > Ethnology, anthropology
- Mind and language > Language
- Society > Geography
- Mind and language > Representation
- Society > Political studies
Places
- Domaine universitaire, 19 Esplanade des Antilles - Université de Bordeaux Montaigne
Pessac, France (33607)
Event attendance modalities
Hybrid event (on site and online)
Date(s)
- Friday, October 25, 2024
Attached files
Keywords
- surf studies, pluridisciplinaire, identité, hybridité
Contact(s)
- Noémie Marques-Verhille
courriel : jesurfstudies [at] gmail [dot] com - Emma Harlet
courriel : jesurfstudies [at] gmail [dot] com - Jeffrey Swartwood
courriel : jesurfstudies [at] gmail [dot] com
Information source
- Noémie Marques-Verhille
courriel : jesurfstudies [at] gmail [dot] com
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« Surfing Identity: Definitions, Hybridity, and Permeability in Surf Studies », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Monday, July 29, 2024, https://doi.org/10.58079/123rz
