Narrations and Imaginaries in Tourism. Material culture in Tourism

Transcription

1 Narrations and Imaginaries in Tourism Material culture in Tourism Università degli Studi di Bergamo 26/10/2016 Milos Nicic University of Belgrade Faculty of Political Sciences

2 Objects that create tourism Books, movies, brochures, images, magazines... Architecture, urban/rural landscapes, monuments Technology, Food, Design Art Objects, Iconic Objects, Souvenirs

3 Souvenirs Unlike the pre-travel tangibles (books, movies, brochures) souvenirs do not exist outside of travel contexts. The tourism framework that renders these objects souvenirs. Souvenir is both a label and an object

4 Souvenirs Connections to the host communities Items that simplify complexities of host communities Encapsulating history/heritage/geography/peoples Questionable process Image of the destination

5 Souvenirs - production Souvenirs capture imaginaries about the destination or its peoples in an tangible form and introduces destination, its attractions and peoples to the managable size of the tourism. Direct links to the ways destinations imaginaries are visualized. They also induce further imaginations as they are ready-tocarry imaginations.

6 Souvenirs - production Souvenirs are always selective and fragmentary, they only represent a fraction of what they claim to be representing. Need further inputs by travel narratives to complement them and give them broader significance and meaning. Souvenirs Art

7 Souvenirs - production 1) Traditional crafts and objects of intended use Utilitarian (express tool to satisfy a symbolic or tangible need) Sale not in mind at the time of production Criteria: aestetic and fucntion 2) Fine Art Artistic (express artist s worldviews, aesthetic characteristic and artistic trends) Eventual sale in mind not primary motivation for creation Criteria: aestetic 3) Souvenirs Customer oriented production Sale is primary motivation aestetical and functional less so.

8 Souvenirs - production Objects of repetitive manufacturing in which profit overrides the aesthetic standards Profit motive is the main purpose for the artefact s production The mass productivity of the souvenir and its standardization is something that all acters artist, market and buyers (tourist) recognize. Souvenirs do not carry the imprint of artistic genius, as the object is always referential it needs to possess certain links to tradition, heritage, and images of the destination/people. In other words to conform to certain imaginaries and by doing so, it also reproduces them.

9 Souvenirs production Souvenirs satisfy a particular way of seeing a destination tourist way. They are designed for the purpose of satisfying an equally unique way of seeing. They tangibly ground Urry s idea about the dichotomy between ordinary-everyday/extraordinary travelling.

10 Souvenirs characteristics Aesthetic (the ability to catch the tourists eye by virtue of design and materials used) Informative (need to refer to the experienced site/culture/destination/people)

11 Souvenirs found and made 1) Sampled usually natural objects that are intrinsic to the destination and whose meaning comes from the process of collecting (sea shells and pebbles from the summer vacation or particularly nice pinecone from the ski trip). These objects are collected directly by the tourist, with no intervention or mediation by the host culture. 2) Representative Artefacts that represent culture/destination/people and are purchasable. a) Made of generic media (postcards, calendars, etc.) b) Crafted (endemic materials and production pottery, boomerangs)

12 Souvenirs function and role Objects that attract attention and express knowledge/power/wealth of the owner No links to the experiences on the destination itself, activities undertaken by the traveller: Taxidermied Animals, Elephant tusks. They serve to show the status of the owner and accumulate social capital for the owner.

13 Souvenirs function and role Reminiscent of travel experience serve to extend the experiences lived during the travel well into the time after the travel, time of the ordinary. Souvenirs document unrepeatable event is travellers diaries serve as traces of authentic experience (that one unique trip to Japan, honeymoon in Mexico) Evoke narration substitute the need for contexts of perpetual consumption of travel experiences.

14 Souvenirs as narratives and narrative extension Souvenirs are always incomplete and are reliant on the imaginaries to complete the narrative it suggests. 1)Gifts 2) Mementos 3) Evidence

15 Souvenirs as gifts Souvenirs are not only intended for the purchaser, but for an alternative customer too.

16 Souvenirs as Mementos The souvenir is an important component of the tourist experience, with most tourists bringing back mementos and souvenirs as reminders. People like to be reminded of special moments in their lives and to hold evidence of those special moments. They are the images from the on-travel narrative that tourists want to take home and be reminded about - tangible symbols to signify or commemorate travel experiences.

17 Analysing souvenirs 1) Description Complete and comprehensive description of the object, including its biography (history of the item is inseparable from the people who made it/sold it/use it) 2) Deduction We place the object in wider category and based on the description, we determine its characteristic in the class of similar objects. 3) Interpretation (contextualization) Object is placed in wider cultural context and its place in ethos and culture is estimated. We form hypothesis of its functions and meanings.

18 Souvenirs videos London: Berlin: QTg NYC: E

19 THANK YOU