Programme full

Embodied Memorialising Practices at New York’s 9/11 Memorial
Karels, M.
(University of Edinburgh)
Friday 17 April 2015 09:00 - 10:30
ROUNDTABLE SESSIONS
The terror attacks of 11 September 2001 have had a decisive impact for many, and memorials commemorating the
event have been erected across the United States. Most prominent is the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New
York built atop and underneath 'ground zero'. Since its opening the site has become New York's most popular tourist
attraction, its location visibly marked by America's tallest building: 1 World Trade Centre. Conveying the illusion of
permanence the space is actually mutable, because it is still under construction, and through performed memorial
practices shifting complex boundaries.
Using Connerton's (1989) notion of embodied memory I investigate the performed interactions and embodied
memorialising practices at the site. Drawing on ethnographic data, interviews and a visual analysis of the space
conducted over nine months in 2013-14 in New York City, I will discuss the practises of bringing, leaving and taking
commemorative objects to and from the site, the inscribing of the body with signifying attire and accessories, and the
performing of memorial walks and runs to argue that the memorial is not fixed and contained by the architectural
environment of the memorial plaza and its surroundings, but is fluid, expanding its physical, temporal and affective
parameters due to the embodied practices of local visitors and tourists visiting the site.
Culture, Media, Sport and Consumption 1
ROUNDTABLE 3, CONFERENCE HALL, HAMISH WOOD BUILDING
‘Friends as Enemies’: A Sociological Analysis of the Relationship between Touring Professional Golfers
Fry, J., Bloyce, D.
(Myerscough College)
This paper examines the relationship between professional golfers on tour from a figurational sociological standpoint.
Based on 20 interviews, results indicate a workplace culture whereby players begin to adopt the attitudes and
behaviours which encourages the development of networks of temporary alliances, referred to as 'we-groups'. Golfers
are constrained to behave in a manner expected of them rather than in a way which reflects their actual emotions,
such as maintaining a positive attitude during difficult times away on tour. In these somewhat superficial relationships
players are viewed both as 'friends', characterized by togetherness and comradery, while, at the same, showing
evidence of tensions and conflict as they are ultimately in direct competition with each other for a share of the overall
prize money.
China’s Skateboarding Youth Culture as an Emerging Culture Industry
Li, C.
(Loughborough University)
My research focuses on the skateboarding industry in China as both a youth subculture and a cultural industry. I am
investigating the transition between the two and examining how the emerging skateboarding industry operates through
detailed analysis of the feelings, motivations and meanings attributed to it by its participants and the emerging strata
of cultural workers.
Although skateboarding has long been seen as a subculture in the United States and in Europe, the landscape of the
industry has been expanding rapidly in China. However, to date there have been very few empirical studies compared
to other music and street subcultures such as the Punk subculture and Graffiti subculture. There have always been
tensions between the skateboarding culture and the capitalist implementation in the US. However, there seems to be
another side of the tension in China that stood out among other factors – the influence and administration of the
central and local governments – the political implementation of skateboarding culture as a 'lifestyle sport'.
To address the current gaps in academic knowledge the research consists of an insider ethnography of the industry.
My decision of employing ethnographic approach is based on my specific commitment to avoid traditions or
stereotypes from the existing literatures. Hence I discovered that the objective and emphasis of ethnographic studies
have been about the need to access and understand the insider perspective of the culture, which would better serve
the purposes of my research.
229 BSA Annual Conference 2015
Glasgow Caledonian University