La fréquentation des sites naturels de canyoning : une approche socio-culturelle. Etude réalisée dans le département des Pyrénées-Orientales

Résumé En Fr

Use of Natural Canyoning Sites in France : A Socio-cultural Approach Based on a socio-cultural study [Pociello 1981 ; Bourdieu, 1979] carried out by questionnaries (N = 237) and completed by several semi-structured interviews, this article studies the use of natural canyoning sites. Following the traditional division to the social space of sports [Pociello, 1995], the results show four principal types of users : the tourist-customers, the hedonistic participants, the purists ; they represent respectively 67 %, 16%, and 8 % of the total users, and also the guides. The tourist-customers are the beginners who are taught by a guide. For the majority of these people, it is the first descent (73 %) and less than 13 % of them have already been canyoning more than five times. For them, canyoning is a holiday activity (39 %) or a natural sport (40 %) or even an activity within nature, but ecological concern is relatively absent. The hedonistic participants are those who practice canyoning without an instructor and do 4 to 40 canyons per season in optimal conditions. The purists are men aged from 35 to 65, who reside in rural areas. Purists, or «passionated» as they are defined, practise all year round. They account for the largest number of trips (from 40 to 100 canyons per year). The article discusses in particular the relation between the person and their own body, the influence of the distinguishing mechanism within the activity, and the separation between consumption and participation in canyoning.

À partir d'une étude socio-culturelle réalisée par questionnaires (N = 237) puis complétée de plusieurs entretiens semi-directifs, le présent article étudie la fréquentation des sites naturels de canyoning en France. Reproduisant en partie les oppositions traditionnelles à l'espace des sports [au sens de Pociello, 1995], les résultats mettent en évidence quatre principaux types d'usagers en canyoning : les touristes-clients, les adeptes hédonistes et les puristes passionnés ainsi que les moniteurs responsables des groupes de clients. L'article discute notamment la place du mécanisme de distinction dans l'activité, le rapport au corps des usagers, ou encore, le partage de la fréquentation des sites entre une logique de consommation et une logique de pratique.