Solitude as a Community of Difference

Abstract

Through an analysis of the experiences of early morning beach-goers at Bondi, this article shows that there is a fundamentally important form of solitude that is characterized by both separation and connection. This form of solitude cannot be understood when seen in terms of sociological theories of alienation or psychological theories of privacy, both of which one-sidedly emphasize separation. The article also shows that, associated with this solitude, there is a significant form of community that is not based on one-sided sameness, but on sameness and difference, on respect for the presence of indefinable difference. The article argues that this form of solitude-and-community underpins the experience of being healthy, of feeling really alive.

Although I have, for various administrative reasons, written this article myself, it has come from ongoing work with my friend and colleague Ann Game. We have been assisted in this project by Demelza Marlin, Luca de Francesco, and Belinda Clayton. I would like to thank Ann, and my other collaborators; I would also like to thank all the generous and inspiring interviewees, who are not responsible for my analysis. Our research has been supported by a UNSW Goldstar award and a Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Research Grant.

Keywords:

• solitude
• community
• Bondi beach
• Buber
• alienation
• unintegration

Notes

Although I have, for various administrative reasons, written this article myself, it has come from ongoing work with my friend and colleague Ann Game. We have been assisted in this project by Demelza Marlin, Luca de Francesco, and Belinda Clayton. I would like to thank Ann, and my other collaborators; I would also like to thank all the generous and inspiring interviewees, who are not responsible for my analysis. Our research has been supported by a UNSW Goldstar award and a Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Research Grant.

1. Over the last few years my collaborators and I have conducted in-depth, semistructured interviews with over 100 Bondi beach-goers, focusing particularly on those who go in the early morning. The interviewees quoted here have all had their names changed.