Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Origin Myth

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Skateboarding and Religion

  • 413 Accesses

Abstract

In this chapter O’Connor argues that skateboarding has an origin myth from which skateboarders derive identity and community. Globally, skateboarders recognise California as the homeland of skateboarding and award it special status of a centre of gravity towards which stories and personalities converge. Here, the basics of skateboarding are unpacked and skateboarding terminology is explained alongside reflections on devout Islamic Malay skateboarders. O’Connor unpacks how the history of skateboarding has been documented and reproduced, arguing that as a body of work, skateboarding media has constructed an origin myth that represents certain places and individuals in an iconic and quasi-religious light. The chapter closes with reflections on how professional skateboarders have become celebrities and idols in their own right.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 44.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Atencio, M., Beal, B., Wright, M. E., & ZáNean, M. (2018). Moving Boarders: Skateboarding and the Changing Landscape of Urban Youth Sports. Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Beal, B. (1995). Disqualifying the Official: An Exploration of Social Resistance through the Subculture of Skateboarding. Sociology of Sport Journal, 12(3), 252–267.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beal, B. (2013). Skateboarding: The Ultimate Guide. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beal, B., & Weidman, L. (2003). Authenticity in the Skateboarding World. In R. E. Rinehart & C. Sydnor (Eds.), To the Extreme: Alternative Sports, Inside and Out (pp. 337–352). New York: States University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Becker, H. (2009). Skateboarding Science. New York: Crabtree Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blayney, S. (2014). Long Live South Bank. London: Long Live Southbank.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borden, I. (2001). Skateboarding, Space and the City. Oxford: Berg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borden, I. (2019). Skateboarding and the City: A Complete History. London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Boulter, J. (2015). Unemployable: 30 Years of Hardcore, Skate and Street. Melbourne, Australia: Thames and Hudson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1977). Outline of a Theory of Practice (R. Nice, Trans.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butz, K. (2012). Grinding California: Culture and Corporeality in American Skate Punk. Bielefeld: Transcript-Verlag.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Carayol, S. (2014). Agents Provocateurs: 100 Subversive Skateboard Graphics. Gingko Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cliver, S. (2004). Disposable: A History of Skateboard Art. Berkeley, CA: Gingko Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cliver, S. (2016). The Big Brother Book. Berkeley, CA: Gingko Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cusack, C. M. (2013). Play, Narrative and the Creation of Religion: Extending the Theoretical Base of ‘Invented Religions’. Culture and Religion, 14(4), 362–377. https://doi.org/10.1080/14755610.2013.838797

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Certeau, M. (1988). The Writing of History. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denike, B. (2004). Built to Grind: 25 Year of Hardcore Skateboarding. San Francisco: High Speed Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eliade, M. (1959). The Sacred and the Profane. New York: Harcourt.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emery, B. (2015). The Prehistoric Skateboard? Jenkem Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.jenkemmag.com/home/2015/02/11/the-prehistoric-skateboard/

  • Eriksen, T. H. (2010). Ethnicity and Nationalism. London: Pluto Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fitzpatrick, J. (2012). Skateistan: The Story of Skateboarding in Afghanistan. Berlin: Skateistan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (1978). Nietzsche, Genealogy, History. In J. Richardson & B. Leiter (Eds.), Nietzsche (pp. 139–164). Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geertz, C. (1973). The Interpretation of Cultures: Selected Essays. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gifford, C. (2006). Skateboarding: Learn to Skate Like a Pro. London: DK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilligan, R. (2014). DIY/Underground Skateparks. Munich: Prestel Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glenney, B., & Mull, S. (2018). Skateboarding and the Ecology of Urban Space. Journal of Sport and Social Issues. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193723518800525.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hawk, T., & Mortimer, S. (2001). Hawk: Occupation: Skateboarder. New York: Regan Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hobsbawm, E. J., & Ranger, T. O. (1994). The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horsley, A. (2008). Skateboarding. New York: Crabtree Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hosoi, C., & Ahrens, C. (2012). Hosoi: My Life as a Skateboarder Junkie Inmate Pastor. New York: HarperOne.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huizinga, J. (1949). Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture. Kettering, OH: Angelico Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutchinson, J., & Smith, A. D. (1996). Ethnicity. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, C. (Writer). (2016). The L.A. Boys. The Berrics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lefebvre, H. (1991). The Production of Space. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lombard, K.-J. (2010). Skate and Create/Skate and Destroy: The Commercial and Governmental Incorporation of Skateboarding. Continuum, 24(4), 475–488. https://doi.org/10.1080/10304310903294713

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Louison, C. (2011). The Impossible. Guilford, CT: Lyons Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luckman, W. (2015). Tf at 1: Ten Years of Quartersnacks. New York: powerHouse Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mehring, J. (2015). Skate the World. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society.

    Google Scholar 

  • Michna, I. (2016). Jenkem Vol. 1: Skateboarding, Smut, Shenanigans (I. Michina, Ed., 1st ed.). Brooklyn, NY: Jenkem Magazine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Michna, I. (2018). Jenkem Vol. 2: More Skateboarding, Smut, Shenanigans. Brooklyn, NY: Jenkem Magazine in association with WINS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, J. (2005). No Limits: Skateboarding. Minnesota, MN: Smart Apple Media.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mullen, R., & Mortimer, S. (2004). The Mutt: How to Skateboard and Not Kill Yourself. New York: Reagan Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palladini, D. (2016). Vans: Off the Wall (50th Anniversary Edition). New York: Abrams.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peralta, S. (Writer). (2001). Dogtown and Z-Boys [DVD].

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, J. (2007). Skate Board Art of Jim Phillips. Pennsylvania, PA: Schiffer Publishing Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sedo, T. (2010). Dead-Stock Boards, Blown-out Spots, and the Olympic Games: Global Twists and Local Turns in the Formation of China’s Skateboarding Community. In P. Rethmann, I. Szeman, & W. D. Coleman (Eds.), Cultural Autonomy: Frictions and Connections (pp. 257–282). Toronto: UBC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sherwood, K. (2017). Jay Boy: The Early Days of Jay Adams. New York: Rizzoli International Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Snyder, C. B. (2015). The Secret History of the Ollie (Vol. 1: The 1970s). Cambridge, MA: Black Salt Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Snyder, G. (2017). Skateboarding La: Inside Professional Street Skateboarding. New York: New York University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • The New York Times. (1893, May 21). Dangerous Sport in Brooklyn, News. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9A0CE7DA1431E033A25752C2A9639C94629ED7CF

  • Thornton, D. (2016). Nobody: Essays from a Lifer Skater. UK: Amazon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thrasher Magazine. (2012). Maximum Rad: The Iconic Covers of Thrasher Magazine. New York: Universe.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weyland, J. (2002). The Answer Is Never: A Skateboarder’s History of the World. New York: Grove Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodhead, L. (2011). Five Concepts of Religion. International Review of Sociology, 21(1), 121–143. https://doi.org/10.1080/03906701.2011.544192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yochim, E. C. (2010). Skate Life: Re-imagining White Masculinity. San Francisco: University of Michigan Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lingnan University, Tuen Mun, Hong Kong

    Paul O’Connor

Authors
  1. Paul O’Connor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul O’Connor .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

O’Connor, P. (2020). Origin Myth. In: Skateboarding and Religion. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24857-4_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24857-4_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-24856-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-24857-4

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation