The Myth of Narcissus
The following article was written by blindboy.
There has always been a resonance between the ancient Greek myth of Narcissus and surfing culture. In the myth a proud and handsome young man falls in love with his image reflected in water and becomes so entranced he is unable to move away. In some versions he turns into a flower, in others he dies. Surfing has always been dominated by young men, and like Narcissus, some of them have fallen so in love with their own image that they have, sometimes figuratively, sometimes literally, died. There is no record of one turning into a flower. Well, not literally.
Surfing is a visual culture. Consider all those surf films, videos, magazines and web sites. They are our collective, idealised reflection and their success is a measure of our love for the image they portray. No other activity is quite like this. In most sports the competitive dominates the aesthetic or, in sports like gymnastics, the aesthetic becomes so tightly defined it stifles individuality.
In surfing culture, as portrayed through the imagery, competition runs a distant second to a wildly creative aesthetic. In the water things may be a little different but it is not the realities of wave catching in a crowd which interests us here so much as the connection between the image and the self.
In modern psychology narcissism is defined in various ways by different schools but the common element is self-obsession. There are a number of standardised tests to identify narcissistic personalities and you can find them easily enough on the internet. The interesting thing about these tests is not the individual results but the trend. Since 2000 the scores have steadily increased. This is based on US data but, given the overlap, it can be considered to be broadly true of western culture. In that sense perhaps, surfing has been a cultural leader. We were into narcissism decades before it became a mainstream trend.
Psychology also tells us that a degree of narcissism is normal and healthy which raises a question in relation to surfing. Are we all narcissists or is surfing just the collective representation of our individually healthy narcissistic tendencies? We could crowd science this. If there is enough interest I can put the test up and we can all post our scores and compare our data to that from the general population. Or we can continue to bask in the certainty of our mental health.
Finally, there is what Freud called the narcissism of small differences. He observed that people with minor differences between them can be more combative and hateful than those with major differences. This is useful historically in explaining all those Catholic versus Protestant wars and in the present for the Sunni versus Shiite wars. Its application to surfing is all too obvious: long board, short board, body board, this beach, that beach, this brand, that brand. Nothing more to be said, I think.//blindboy
Cartoon by Bill Leak.
Comments
Interesting article Blindboy! In many locations surfers have fought hard to win access to go surfing without fear of harassment or broader social stigmatisation. This is very different to many/most other activities and maybe the bleach blonde six pack dope smoking kombi driving dreadlocked surfer is our emblematic warrior king. Perhaps what you are really referring to is an act of homage or legacy, rather than narcissism.
I think it's also worth exploring our motivation for participating in surfing. Kent Pearson investigated this in the 70s and I revisited his work through some national and international surveys about 5 years ago. Self-expression, fun and spiritual values rate very highly. Is surfing then simply a canvass that some of us have found to express our inner-self?
On the last point you'd have to say competition over dwindling resources has something to do with it. Perhaps it's a combination of things that causes the animosity? Competition over waves by surfers who ride various equipment who happen to be very, very good looking!
Earthlings looking in the mirror too long? Has the mirror cracked then? No longer do surfers want to pay $70 for boardshorts (=$10 for the shorts and $60 for the brand).
My mind reading powers declare Pearson compared clubbie culture with boarding culture in the 1970's and concluded, clubbies could organise themselves, hence their huge coastal property holdings and oooooodles of public $$$$ funding. Meanwhile Boardrider organisation is hard right or looose left, contest wigglers at Surfing Australia and Save Tibets at Surfrider Foundation.
I love my mirror! Who represents me?
Nicely written ... but evolution began with the long board for tiny waves and has compacted to the boogie board for hollow high impact waves.
I always thought it was about feeling good, clearing the mind, releasing adrenalin and getting barrelled off your head!
Excellent article and always good to turn real world theories to surfing. Freud's theory explains the factious state of left-wing politics, people with largely the same goal in mind arguing over how it should be achieved. Ego also plays a large part, and Freud said one or two things about that also.
not sure about the religious wars - I though that was about rome being as corrupt as it ever was , martin luther falling off his saddle when he went to see and then the reformation and subsequent counter reformation. Nothing to do with religion all to do with money and power maybe?
the surfers and coastal assets - sounds like envy to me -join a surf club and contribute/
I love a surf website that promotes a discussion that includes the words 'factious' and 'Freud' in a comment referencing left-wing politics followed by a comment referencing the Reformation, and which also takes comments from such luminaries as HRH BigWayne and the Idiot Bunny.
Inertia, take a note.
Sometimes makes me wonder if I made a mistake with me Stab subscription....
Thanks for the positive and perceptive comments. It is great encouragement to get such quality feedback.
These words accompanied a Leunig cartoon in yesterday's The Saturday Age newspaper.
Humanity the narcissist
Wants to happily exist
Within its own reflection;
A type of self-infection.
The miracle of singing birds
Is overruled by human words;
The all too human views,
The sordid evening news.
Freud didn`t surf, so wtf would he know !
Heartily recommend The American Surfer: Radical Culture and Capitalism by Kristin Lawler. Does a confluence of Marcuse, Mailer and Miki Dora sound interesting? Then have a gander...
Freud's Civilisation and its Discontents gets a right seeing-to as a matter of course as well.