Blurring the lines – a novice approach to riding on water

Yosuke  Washiya

doi:10.24135/ee.v6i1.262

Yosuke Washiya

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24135/ee.v6i1.262

Keywords: Novice approach, ethnography, Georges Bataille, surfing, non-Western thought

Abstract

Through ethnographic inquiry of the author’s novice experiences of riding on water, the study dismisses using the preformed category of surfing and proposes the novice approach to fieldwork, instead. The article discusses the lines, or categorical thoughts, that researchers draw separating the body from the sea, or surroundings from experiences. Through the discussion of Georges Bataille’s famous water in water and related literature, the author argues how the lines can be blurred. The article further explores the methodological possibility to deepen future academic inquiries by examining so called non-Western thoughts and perspectives.

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