Surf Rhetoric in American and British Surfing Magazines Between 1965 and 1976

Abstract

This article examines how subcultural values are influenced by place and environment within a specific time period between the mid 1960s to the mid 1970s. At this time America was one of the major surfing nations in the world and American surfing culture was the most easily accessible to British surfers. Conversely British surfing was at an early stage of development and the article compares the rhetoric of American surfing with British surfing subcultures to determine the extent to which the fantasy lifestyle of searching for the perfect wave expressed in American surfing magazines and films was accepted by British surfers.