Return to Surf: Re-understanding the Sea among Local Surfers in Post-Tsunami Settings
Abstract as pdf
Corresponding Author:
Sarani Pitor Pakan
Universitas Gadjah Mada Indonesia
saranipitor26@ugm.ac.id
Author(s):
Tsunami comes in the form of gigantic waves, whereas surfing occurs on waves. While the former is disastrous, the latter is playful. Then, how do local surfers in the post-tsunami coastal communities situate their lifestyle sport activity? More importantly, what are their ‘new’ meanings of sea and waves in the aftermath of tsunami and within the discourse of posttsunami recovery? Focusing on the relation between sea, lifestyle sport, and tsunami, this research aims to understand how coastal community learns to re-understand the sea in the post-tsunami context. The oral histories of local surfers in two distinct post-disaster settings of Fukushima (Japan) and Aceh (Indonesia), respectively experiencing tsunami in 2011 and 2004, will be collected. This oral history method is sought to have more complex and inclusive understandings about how post-disaster recovery can be performed through mundane lifestyle sport of surfing and by everyday ethic of re-learning to live with the sea. In such recovery process, relationships between human and sea are expected to be reproduced, while simultaneously creating the ‘new’ meanings of sea. This research contributes to disaster studies by giving insights on how post-disaster recovery can be understood in terms of human-environment relations and lifestyle sport practices.
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