Leisure
The association of the beach with leisure is a relatively recent phenomenon, which only gained
traction in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, when the seaside became more widely
accessible. Thus the transformation of the beach into a vacationscape is truly a development of
the long twentieth century. This function of the beach has been extraordinarily influential, as
shown in our corpus by the surprisingly uniform popularity of leisure as a theme. This suggests
that at least in the Western imagination, the beach remains a quintessential holiday
destination. As a vacationscape, the beach is a pleasure zone that combines closeness to nature
with carefreeness, inspiring visions of departure from routine and the mundane. Leisure often
involves play and the sensual experience of nature, but it also means being free for
introspection and self-analysis. However, our corpus suggests that it frequently also leads to
interpersonal conflict.