Abstract

This article problematizes heroic models of innovation which advocate the definitive, isolated and anthropocentric origins of the mountain bike. It argues that such heroic models represent a particular kind of myth in which technology, as manifest in the reconstructionist history of the Repack group, is said to represent the human ability to domesticate nature and transform it into objects of utility. In light of the work of Latour, I (re)evaluate phenomenological and subcultural claims regarding the relationship between riders and bikes, arguing that neither is sufficiently able to grasp the complex bonds that are formed between human and nonhuman entities. In contrast, it is concluded that the mountain bike is a collective and continual achievement performed within a wider assemblage comprising a series of heterogeneous actants, thus contributing to a growing body of work that focuses on the more-than-human aspects of leisure.

摘要

本文对倡导山地自行车确定性、孤立性和以人类为中心的起源的英雄创新模式进行了质疑。它认为，这种英雄模型代表了一种特殊的神话，在这种神话中，正如 Repack 集团的重建历史中所体现的那样，据说技术代表了人类驯化自然并将其转化为实用物品的能力。根据拉图尔的工作，我（重新）评估了关于骑手和自行车之间关系的现象学和亚文化主张，认为两者都不足以掌握人类与非人类实体之间形成的复杂联系。相比之下，结论是山地自行车是在由一系列异类参与者组成的更广泛的组合中进行的集体和持续的成就，