140394 VO+UE VM6 / VM4 - Staging the pre-modern other in post-colonial tourist space (2016W)

International tourism is one of the world’s fastest growing industries and has gained
recognition as a key driver for socio-economic development in countries of the Global
South. However, the tourist industry does not necessarily create sustainable livelihoods
and stable employment for local communities; its success rather depends on the ability
to create profitable attractions that inspire people’s imagination. Such commodified
fantasies of places and people are circulated in all forms of popular culture (e.g. travel
logs, guide books, brochures, films, etc.) and may range from home-stays with ‘noble
savages’ to all-inclusive volunteer holidays in ‘least developed countries’. While it is
fairly obvious that much adventure tourism of today resonates 19th century fantasies of
imperial discovery, the volunteer sector one of the corollaries of neoliberal global
capitalism - places Western tourists amidst supposedly backward and helpless others,
so that the affluent and mobile travelers can enjoy the feeling of ‘making a difference’ in
the (neo-colonial?) tradition of bringing modernization to the remote corners of the earth.
This course takes this as a starting point and investigates how images of otherness are
negotiated in key tourist texts (guidebooks, brochures, websites, travel blogs, etc.) to
explore how unequal power-relations between tourists and local communities are played
out. There will be a focus on development oriented volunteer tourism.
This course is aimed at MA students. It is designed to help participants develop both a
theoretical understanding and practical skills to critically analyze media contents in terms
of the intersection of discourse, power and identity with regard to tourism and
development in the global south.
Students will be familiarized with Cultural Studies concepts that help them deconstruct
and denaturalize myths about the ‘self’ and the ‘other’ that are at play in tourism and
some development discourse. Students will select viable examples for discussion (e.g.
contents from guidebooks, brochures, websites, travel blogs, etc.) and investigate the
socio-cultural implications of these examples with regard to hidden power relations and
ideological tendencies that may reside in the texts and the tourist / development
practices they relate to. Readings, group activities and presentations will be rounded off
by discussions, peer-feedback sessions and written assignments.