Abstract

CARVALHO, Rui Gonçalves de  and  PEREIRA, Ana Luísa. Alternative paths - the parkour as a (sub)cultural phenomenon. Rev. Port. Cien. Desp. [online]. 2008, vol.8, n.3, pp.427-440. ISSN 1645-0523.

Through this work, we proposed to analyse a group of urban alternative sports participants to try to understand if they are, or not, a part of a subculture. Our data was collected throughout participant observation as a means to obtain the information and was complemented with semi-structured interviews. These data were submitted to content analysis, from which resulted our categorical system. The categories for analysis were: i) Ideology; ii) Social Resistance; iii) Identity construction; iv) Symbology and aesthetics; v) Independency from global space and vi) Relationship with space of practice. We concluded that parkour has a unique ideology; a group dynamics with it’s own rules and conducts; an aesthetic related to the way it explores the space of practice on one hand, and with functionality of the clothes worn, on the other hand, a sense of independence towards the evolution of the global scene; and a new way of relating to urban space.

Keywords : parkour; free-running; subculture; urban alternative sports.

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