The Clique Became a Cult and the Cult Became a Culture: The Narrativization of Modern Surfing History

Since its emergence in the 1950s, imagery and ideology surrounding modern surfing has spread from the beaches of California and Australia around the world, creating a global culture which is heavily localised through socially constructed traditions and tales. Depictions of surf culture often encompass the maverick, masculine, white male; the explorer, the hedonist in an individualised pursuit. This paper uses the case study of a local boardriders club in Gold Coast, Australia, in order to explore the potential of surfing to be narrativized and inspire narratives in such a global-local, collective-individual manner. In fact, surfing is an individual activity, but surfing places are social arenas, and surfing narratives are collectively shaped (and accepted) by the communities of surfers. Drawing upon extensive empirical data, this paper considers how local traditions have been created; in relation to clubs, characters and "local heroes", the stories of whom have come to shape both a locations' surf heritage and future. Taking a multidisciplinary, collaborative approach, this paper brings together the ideas of an anthropologist and a cultural geographer who are both currently working on surf culture(s) and their local/global dimensions.