Identity tourism

Identity tourism research dates back to a 1984 special issue of Annals of Tourism Research guest edited by Pierre L. van den Berghe and Charles F. Keyes.[1] This volume examined the ways in which tourism intersects with the (re-)formation and revision of various forms of identity, particularly ethnic and cultural identities. Since that time, various scholars have examined the intersection between dimensions of identity and tourism. The term "identity tourism" is sometimes taken to mean the act of assuming a racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, sexual or gender identity for recreational purposes.[2] It may also refer to the tourism industry's representation and/or construction of ethnic identities and historical or cultural heritage.[3]

History

An important early contribution to the study of identity tourism was Lanfant, Allcock and Bruner's 1995 edited volume International Tourism, Identity and Change.[4][5][6] As with the Keyes and van den Berghe special issue of Annals of Tourism Research, this volume moved the field away from studying the impact of tourism on identity to investigating the intersection of tourism and identity in more dynamic ways, among other things looking at how "local" and "tourist" identities are mutually-constructed. Likewise, Michel Picard and Robert Wood's edited volume Tourism, Ethnicity and the State in Asian and Pacific Societies (1997, University of Hawaii Press), examined the ways in which tourism intersections with ethnic, cultural, regional and national identities, as well as with the political agendas of Pacific island and Southeast Asian states.[7][8][9][10] Abrams, Waldren and Mcleod's 1997 volume Tourists and Tourism: Identifying with People and Places[11] also offered case studies examining issues surrounding the construction of identity in the context of tourism.[12][13][14][15] Among other things the chapters in their volume investigated tourists' views of themselves and others in the course of their travels, the relationship of travelers to resident populations, and the ways in which tourists' quests for authenticity are entangled with their own sensibilities about their own identities.

Case studies of tourism and identity include Edward Bruner's[16] 2001 article "The Masai and the Lion King: Authenticity, Nationalism and Globalization in African Tourism",[17] which examines how various Kenyan tourist sites entail displays of particular identities ("Masai" "Colonialist" etc.) and how tourists' engagements with these identity displays are varied, nuanced and complex, articulating with their own narratives, sensibilities about African heritage and quests. Kathleen M. Adams' 2006 work on tourism, identity and the arts in Toraja, Indonesia illustrates how tourism is drawn upon by different members of the community to elaborate different dimensions of identity. In "Art as Politics: Re-crafting tourism, identities and power in Tana Toraja, Indonesia",[18] Adams documents how tourism challenges older elite identities in the community, reconfiguring artistic and ritual symbols once associated with elites as broader symbols of Toraja ethnic group identity. Amanda Stronza's[19] 2008 work on tourism and identity in the Amazon has illustrated how tourism appears to be causing new differentiation of identities within the community she researched (see "Through a New Mirror: Reflections on Tourism and Identity in the Amazon").[20] A 2011 edited volume by Burns and Novelli also offers a number of case studies on the topic of tourism and social identities.[21]

Cyberspace

The emergence of the internet as a venue of identity expression is also relevant to the theme of tourism and identity; a 2011 edited volume on Tourism Social Media: Transformations in Identity, Community and Culture by hospitality and business school scholars spotlights some of these issues. Moreover, there are various programs and applications, such as chat rooms, forums, MUDs, MOOs, MMORPGs, and others in which a user is allowed to establish an identity in that particular space. This online identity could be different from a user's physical identity in race, gender, height, weight or even species. In chat rooms and forums, a user creates their identity through text and the way they interact with others. In MMORPGs, users create a visual representation of their identity, an avatar. This allows users to easily tour more than just ethnic and cultural identities.

With the development of the internet and virtual reality, identity tourism can become more salient than previously thought. With virtual reality, for example, transgender individuals can control their own gender presentation in an MMORPG or forum. Lisa Nakamura[22] has studied identity tourism in cyberspace, using it to describe the process of appropriating an identity involving another gender and/or race than one's own on the web. She describes the process as an avenue through which cultural, ethnic, and racial differences are commodified, stereotyped, and neglected. This kind of cyber-identity tourism mainly refers to the web but also touch other media forms, such as video games.[23] Being able to 'tour' the internet with a new identity opens the possibility of the net being an identifiable space.

References
  1. Van Den Berghe, Pierre L.; Keyes, Charles F. (1984). "Introduction tourism and re-created ethnicity". Annals of Tourism Research. 11 (3): 343–352. doi:10.1016/0160-7383(84)90026-4.
  2. Martin, Judith; Nakayama, Thomas (2012-02-23). Intercultural Communication in Contexts: Sixth Edition. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. ISBN 978-0-07-776942-0.
  3. Pitchford, Susan; Jafari, Jafar (2008-02-29). Identity Tourism: Imaging and Imagining the Nation. Emerald Group Publishing. ISBN 978-0-08-046618-7.
  4. "International Tourism, Identity and Change". Retrieved on February 18, 2014.
  5. "Review of International Tourism - Identity and Change". Bulletin de Méthodologie Sociologique (50): 96. 1996. ISSN 0759-1063. JSTOR 24359863.
  6. Swain, Margaret Byrne (1997). Boissevain, Jeremy; Lanfant, Marie-Françoise (eds.). "Coping with the Anthropology of Tourism". American Anthropologist. 99 (1): 162–164. doi:10.1525/aa.1997.99.1.162. ISSN 0002-7294. JSTOR 682149.
  7. "Tourism, Ethnicity, and the State in Asian and Pacific Societies". Retrieved on February 18, 2014.
  8. Amster, Matthew H. (1998). "Review of Tourism, Ethnicity, and the State in Asian and Pacific Societies". Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. 12 (2): 107–108. ISSN 0741-2037. JSTOR 40860683.
  9. Keyes, Charles (1998). "Review of Tourism, Ethnicity and the State in Asian and Pacific Societies". American Anthropologist. 100 (3): 837–838. doi:10.1525/aa.1998.100.3.837. hdl:10125/24150. ISSN 0002-7294. JSTOR 682114.
  10. Michel, Franck (1998). "Review of Tourism, Ethnicity, and the State in Asian and Pacific Societies". L'Homme (148): 292–294. ISSN 0439-4216. JSTOR 23211518.
  11. Abram, Simone; Waldren, Jackie D.; Macleod, Don, eds. (1 June 1997). Tourists and Tourism: Identifying with People and Places. Ethnicity and Identity Series (1 ed.). Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1859739051.
  12. Kirby, Peter W. (1998). "Review of Tourists and Tourism: Identifying with People and Places". Cambridge Anthropology. 20 (3): 98–100. ISSN 0305-7674. JSTOR 23818818.
  13. Adams, Kathleen M. (1999). "Review of Tourists and Tourism: Identifying with People and Places". American Anthropologist. 101 (4): 868. doi:10.1525/aa.1999.101.4.868.1. ISSN 0002-7294. JSTOR 684087.
  14. Adler, Judith (1999). "Review of Tourists and Tourism: Identifying with People and Places". The Canadian Journal of Sociology / Cahiers canadiens de sociologie. 24 (3): 425–426. doi:10.2307/3341397. ISSN 0318-6431. JSTOR 3341397.
  15. Crick, Malcolm (1999). "Review of Tourism and Culture: An Applied Perspective, ; Tourists and Tourism: Identifying with People and Places". American Ethnologist. 26 (2): 514–516. doi:10.1525/ae.1999.26.2.514. ISSN 0094-0496. JSTOR 647332.
  16. "Edward M Bruner - Anthropology at Illinois". anthro.illinois.edu.
  17. Edward M. Bruner (2001). "The Maasai and the Lion King: Authenticity, Nationalism, and Globalization in African Tourism". American Ethnologist. 28 (4): 881–908. doi:10.1525/ae.2001.28.4.881.
  18. "Art as Politics: Re-crafting tourism, identities and power in Tana Toraja, Indonesia". Retrieved on February 18, 2014.
  19. "Stronza, Dr. Amanda - Recreation Park and Tourism Sciences". rpts.tamu.edu.
  20. Stronza, Amanda (2008). "Through a New Mirror: Reflections on Tourism and Identity in the Amazon" (PDF). Human Organization. 67 (3): 244–257. doi:10.17730/humo.67.3.a556044720353823.
  21. Burns, Peter M.; Novelli, Marina, eds. (14 September 2006). Tourism and Social Identities. Routledge. ISBN 978-0080450742.
  22. Nakamura, L. (2000). Race In/For Cyberspace: Identity Tourism and Racial Passing on the Internet. Archived 2013-09-18 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on October 30, 2007.
  23. Flew, T. and Humphreys, S. (2005). "Games: Technology, Industry, Culture." New Media: An Introduction, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne 101–114.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.