University of Wollongong
Research Online
University of Wollongong Thesis Collection
1954-2016
University of Wollongong Thesis Collections
2005
Surfing nation(s) - Surfing country(s)
Colleen McGloin
University of Wollongong, [email protected]
Recommended Citation
McGloin, Colleen, Surfing nation(s) - Surfing country(s), PhD thesis, School of Social Sciences, Media and Communications,
University of Wollongong, 2005. http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/316
Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library:
[email protected]
SURFING NATION(S) – SURFING COUNTRY(S)
A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for
the award of the degree
Doctor of Philosophy
University of Wollongong
by
Colleen McGloin B.A. (Hons)
School of Social Sciences, media and Communications
Faculty of Arts
2005
Certification
I, Colleen McGloin, declare that this thesis, submitted in partial fulfilment of the
requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy, in the School of Social
Sciences, Media and Communications, Faculty of Arts, University of
Wollongong, is wholly my own work unless otherwise referenced or
acknowledged. The document has not been submitted for qualifications at any
other academic institution.
……………………………………..
Colleen McGloin
4 April, 2005
ii
List of Contents
Abstract
iv
Dedication
v
Acknowledgements
vi
Chapter One: Introduction
1
Chapter Two: Methodology
27
Chapter Three: Surfing the Nation
77
Chapter Four: Be Yourself. Naturally: The Metaphysics of Surfing
132
Chapter Five: Performing Surfing Masculinity
193
Chapter Six: Other Nations, Other Countries
252
Conclusion
297
Bibliography
303
Appendix 1
320
Appendix 2
323
Appendix 3
326
iii
Abstract
This dissertation provides a genealogy of the relationship between surfing,
the nation, and white masculinity in Australian culture. I argue that, despite its
historical connections to countercultural and subcultural expression, surfing has
emerged as a cultural formation which, in multiple ways, contributes to and
sustains dominant conceptions of national identity. This claim is demonstrated
through the investigation of a diverse range of texts produced both within surf
culture and outside it, including documentary and fictional cinema, novels,
magazines and advertisements. Reading these texts for the politics of gender, race
and class that inform them, I identify the crucial connections of surfing culture to
the dominant discourses of white Australia, while also attending to the various
manifestations of surfing masculinity that do not ‘fit in’ with contemporary
national identity.
As a counterpoint to the congruence of mainstream surfing culture and
white Australian nationhood, I discuss the culturally specific views of nation and
country that inform contemporary Indigenous surfing culture. This part of the
dissertation is supported by the contributions, through conversations, interviews
and questionnaires, of Aboriginal surfers and elders in the Illawarra region as well
as by readings of Surfing the Healing Wave, a film on Indigenous surf culture, and
the Indigenous sports magazine, Deadly Vibe. I demonstrate that Aboriginal ways
of understanding and relating to the ocean constitute an important counterpoint to
dominant white representations of surfing and beach life generally. The
perspectives of Aboriginal participants and contributors to this thesis provide an
oppositional view of nation/country and of surfing as a form of cultural
expression. These worldviews instate a point of departure from white,
“mainstream” ideas of nation and proffer an epistemology that testifies to
Aboriginal peoples’ continued resistance to colonialism. Through the voices of
Aboriginal people, nation(s), surfing, and the ocean, are contextualised according
to a culturally relevant frame of reference. Indigenous voices construct a counterdiscourse that contests dominant projections of nation at the level of cultural
production and cultural practice.
iv
Dedication
This thesis is dedicated with love to the memory of John and Kieron. It is a tribute
to my father’s belief in social justice and an acknowledgement of my son’s need
to make sense of who he was in an unjust world.
v
Acknowledgements
I am indebted to many people whose support has made this dissertation
possible. I want to acknowledge Associate Professor Joseph Pugliese, whose
inspiration as an intellectual and a teacher during my undergraduate years
culminated in my decision to embark on an academic career. I thank also my
PhD supervisor, Dr. Guy Davidson, for his mentorship, patience, intellectual
support and his confidence in my project. A special thank-you also to my close
friend and colleague, Dr. Glenda Moylan-Brouff, whose friendship and academic
support have been invaluable, and whose wisdom and humour have consistently
provided inspiration and delight.
My sincere gratitude is offered to my friend Bronwyn Lumby for her
emotional and practical support, and her endorsement of the political efforts of
this thesis. In addition, I am deeply grateful to all the Indigenous participants in
my research. I wish to thank my friends and co-workers from the Woolyungah
Indigenous Centre at the University of Wollongong, Joanne Buckskin, David
Kampers, Ernie Blackmore, Sharon Anderson, Ravi Daga and Michael Adams, all
of whom have provided friendship as well as practical, academic, technical and
collegial support. I am also very grateful to the Centre’s Director, Professor John
Bern, for his encouragement, and for facilitating the conditions to complete this
thesis.
To my mother, Drene, and my daughter, Jenny, thank-you for your belief
in my ability and for being the inspirational women you both are. Finally, I want
to thank especially my partner, Chris, for his unselfish support of my endeavours
and his consistent provision of music, food and humour throughout this journey.
vi