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Showing posts from September, 2007

Hawaii paper

I had fun attending the Oceanic Popular Cultures Association conference in Honolulu earlier this year. This is a copy of the paper I presented there... Citizens of Surfing It is touching to hear writers talk about graffiti and the immensely powerful role it has played in their lives. At times, it almost sounds as if they are talking about an old friend, someone who has stepped in and stuck with them through good times and bad (Macdonald, 2001: 179). Because surfing is commonly described by many non-surfers as simply a playful activity, there appears to be some trepidation in imagining what potential it has beyond people’s personal lives (Fiske, 1989 a : 49; Ford & Brown, 2006: 67). However, there’s great potential for social and cultural change in ways that don’t include shouting for it from the rooftops (Fiske, 1989 a : 187). Sometimes the development of social and cultural understanding and negotiation is implicit in the enactment of a culture, where actions ma