THE AESTHETICS OF RISK
- 1 September 1999
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in International Review for the Sociology of Sport
- Vol. 34 (3), 265-276
- https://doi.org/10.1177/101269099034003003
Abstract
A combination of participant-observation, survey research, interviews, and semiotics was used to examine risk-taking in Australian surfing. It is argued that: (1) aestheticization facilitates risk-taking in the pursuit of an ecstatic, transcendent experience; and (2) the surfing aesthetic involves a postmodern incarnation of the sublime that distorts rational risk assessment. The study also analyzes the role of the surfing media in constructing and reinforcing images of the sublime.Keywords
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