Scuba Diving Practices in Greece: A Historical Ethnography of Technology, Self, Body, and Nature (Leisure Studies in a Global Era)

This book provides a historical-sociological analysis of recreational scuba diving practices. Starting from a national case study, Greece, the book analyzes the gradually evolving global institutional arrangements of this version of underwater recreational activities. Based on the author’s experience as a former diving instructor and on an historical and sociological research of scuba diving in Greece, the book examines the stages of institutionalization of scuba diving as a leisure practice on a global scale, from 1945 to the present day. It combines two traditions: the phenomenological approach of underwater multisensory embodied experience and tourism studies. The two main research questions that the project answers are (a) how scuba diving has historically been shaped as a leisure activity, (b) how has underwater experience been conceptually shaped as a leisure activity. This case is an excellent example for exploring the relationship between society, technology, body and modern practices of self in the late modernity world, under a phenomenological and historical perspective. Preface Acknowledgments Contents Abbreviations List of Photos List of Tables Chapter 1: Introduction: Scuba Diving as a Global Leisure Activity Diving in Greece Diving Everywhere: A Globalized Leisure Community Underwater Entangleds Pleasure and the Moral Gaze Exploring the Underwater Self and Nature Book Outline Chapter 2: The Global in the Local: Scuba Diving in ­Greece Researching the Local, Understanding the Global Research Methods Autoethnography Amphibious Ethnography and Interviews Digital Ethnography The Magazines The Archives The Historical Ethnographic Perspective Chapter 3: Technology and Underwater Worlds Imaginary Diving Technologies Realizing Utopias and Rising Dystopias Applied Technoscience: Helmets, Sponge Fishing and Diving Accidents in the Dodecanese Traditional Diving Communities Parallel Submarine Worlds Chapter 4: Diving Technology at the Recreational World Diving Equipment and Recreation Diving Achieving Autonomy Underwater: The Regulator Safety and Comfort Technology as a Pole of Diving Clusters Things and Humans Under the Surface of the Sea The Technology Sensory A Magic World Beyond the Underwater World The Era of Diving Heritization Diving Past as Cultural Heritage Metamorphoses: Bellstone Diving as a Sport Women in New Underwater Worlds Chapter 5: From the Navy to the Sport’s World Brawny Dives The “Underwater Men,” the Bible of Scuba Diving in Greece Significant Biographies A New Ethos The Sportization of Scuba Diving The Hellenic Federation of Underwater Activities (EOUDA) The Navy and the Federation Hyperbaric and Diving Medicine Standardization and Professionalization of Scuba Diving Education Standardization Professionalization The Ideology of Safe Diving Chapter 6: Underwater Phantasmagoria: The Touristization of Scuba Diving Phantasmagoria of the Depths Phantasmagoric Perception of the Depths Maritime Antiquities in Greece: A Journey From Research Celebration to Diving Prohibition Maritime Antiquities and Scuba Diving: The Prehistory The Desire to Explore the Depths The Institutionalization of Underwater Archaeology The Diving Prohibition A Short Story The Production of the Underwater Recreational Space The Seabed as a Contested Field Underwater Spatial Arrangements The New Professional View The Comparative Advantages in a World Market Recreational Underwater Spectacle for All Chapter 7: Breathing Under Water: Scuba Diving as Multisensory Experience Blue Phantasmagoria: Allure, Senses, and Emotions Blue Water, Black Water The Color of the Equipment Underwater Embodied Self A Globalized Discourse of Adventure Risk Management The Care of the Underwater Embodied Self Diving as a Captivating Multisensory Adventure Communities Underwater Sensorium, Body, and Diving Equipment Underwater Hyperreality? The Feeling of Flying Aquaticity: Tradition, Senses, and Emotions The Soundscape of Scuba Diving Beyond the Silence Underwater Breathing as Metaphor Sensorial Flows and the Desire to Be Elsewhere Chapter 8: Pleasure and Aquastalgia Beyond the Sea Blue Water The Ecological Problematization of the Greek Depths A Sensitive Taskscape Underwater Aesthetics Underwater Ethics and Moralities “Fishing With Scuba Gear Is Unethical” “We Leave Only Bubbles” Technology and Sensitivity Underwater Ecological Perspectives Eco-Dive Ethics Eco-Dive Politics Aquastalgia Mediterranean Aquastalgia? A Globalized Indigenous Underwater Ontology? Underwater Noble Savages and the Human Being Chapter 9: Conclusion: Diving as Travel on the Boundaries Immersions Surplus of Underwater Experience Diving for Pleasure? Bibliography FEK (Greek Official Government Gazette) Dive Magazines Archives Internet Sites Documentaries and Movies Index