The Search for The ‘Authentic’ in the Context of Narrative-Inspired Travel
Abstract
The article discusses the concept of authenticity in relation to literary travel and other forms of media-induced travel. Focusing on the power of fictional narrative to draw members of the audience to locations associated with a story, the paper aims to find out what exactly visitors are expecting to find when journeying to locations with literary and media associations. An overview of previous research demonstrates how the concept of authenticity has been understood in connection with travel inspired by literature, films and TV productions. An analysis of recent research, focusing on literary and screen-induced travel, demonstrates that perceptions of what is authentic varies between individual visitors based on their level of dedication to fictional narratives and the meanings they attribute to them. There is a number of ways in which visitors seek for and encounter different types of authenticity at sites with media connections.
References
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Amey, E. (2015). On a Quest for Authenticity to an Imaginary Place: A Narrative Analysis of the Experiences of British Literary Tourists (Master’s thesis, University of Lapland, Finland). Retrieved from https://lauda.ulapland.fi/handle/10024/62069
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Bom, A. K. (2015). Where fiction really exists: The staging and experience of authenticity in the literary icon-city. Aktuel forskning ved Institut for Litteratur, Kultur og Medier, December, 85-97.
Boorstin, D. (1964). The image: A guide to pseudo-events in America. New York: Atheneum.
Buchmann, A., Moore, K., & Fisher, D. (2010). Experiencing film tourism: Authenticity & fellowship. Annals of Tourism Research, 37(1), 229-248.
Busby,G., & Klug, J.(2001). Movie-induced tourism: The challenge of measurement and other issues. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 7(4), 316-332.
Cohen, E. (1988). Authenticity and commoditization in tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 15(3), 371-386.
Gothie, S. C. (2016). Playing “Anne”: Red braids, Green Gables, and literary tourists on Prince Edward Island. Tourist Studies, 16(4), 405-421.
Hasebrink, U., & Paus-Hasebrink, I. (2016). Linking fantasy to everyday life: Patterns of orientation and connections to reality in the case of The Hobbit. Participations: Journal of Audience & Reception Studies, 13(2), 223-245. Retrieved from http://www.participations.org/Volume%2013/Issue%202/s1/4.pdf
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Herbert, D. T. (1996). Artistic and literary places in France as tourist attractions. Tourism Management, 17(2), 77-85.
Herbert, D.T. (2001). Literary places, tourism and the heritage experience. Annals of Tourism Research, 28(2), 312-333.
Hoppen, A., Brown, L., & Fyall, A. (2014). Literary tourism: Opportunities and challenges for the marketing and branding of destinations? Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 3(1), 37-47.
Jenkins, H. (1992). Textual poachers: Television fans and participatory culture. New York: Routledge.
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Kim, S. (2010). Extraordinary experience: Re-enacting and photographing at screen tourism locations. Tourism and Hospitality Planning & Development, 7(1), 59-75.
Knudsen, B. T., & Waade, A. M. (2010). Performative authenticity in tourism and spatial experience: Rethinking the relation between travel, place and emotion in the context of cultural economy and emotional geography. In B. T. Knudsen & A. M. Waade (Eds.), Re-investing authenticity: Tourism, place and emotions (pp. 1-19). Bristol: Channel View Publications.
Laing, J., & Frost W. (2012). Books and travel: Inspiration, quests and transformation. Bristol: Channel View Publications.
MacCannell, D. (1973). Staged authenticity: Arrangements of social space in tourist settings. American Journal of Sociology, 79(3), 589-603.
McLaughlin, D. (2016). The game’s afoot: Walking as practice in Sherlockian literary geographies. Literary Geographies, 2(2), 144-163.
Reijnders, S. (2011). Places of the imagination: Media, tourism, culture. Farnham: Ashgate.
Reijnders, S. (2016). Stories that move: Fiction, imagination, tourism. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 19(6), 672-689.
Reisinger, Y., & Steiner, C. J. (2006). Reconceptualizing object authenticity. Annals of Tourism Research, 33(1), 65-86.
Robinson, M. (2002a). Between and beyond the pages: Literature–tourism relationships. In M. Robinson & H. C. Andersen (Eds.), Literature and tourism: reading and writing tourism texts (pp. 39-79). London: Continuum.
Robinson, M. (2002b). Reading between the lines: Literature and the creation of touristic spaces. Current Writing: Text and Reception in Southern Africa, 14(1), 1-28.
Robinson, M., & Andersen, H. C. (2002). Reading between the lines: Literature and the creation of touristic spaces. In M. Robinson & H. C. Andersen (Eds.), Literature and tourism: reading and writing tourism texts (pp. 1-38). London: Continuum.
Seaton, A. V. (2002). Tourism as metempsychosis and metensomatosis: The personae of eternal recurrence. In G. M. S. Dann (Ed.), The tourist as a metaphor of the social world (pp. 135-168). Wallingford: CABI Publishing.
Sandvik, K., & Waade, A. M. (2008). Crime scene as augmented reality: On Screen, online and offline. Crime Fiction and Crime Journalism in Scandinavia, Working paper no. 5, 1-17.
Squire, S. J. (1991). Meanings, myths and memories: Literary tourism as cultural discourse in Beatrix Potter's Lake District (Doctoral thesis, University of London, UK). Retrieved from http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1317609/
Squire, S. J. (1993). Valuing countryside: Reflections on Beatrix Potter tourism. Area, 25(1), 5-10.
Squire, S. J. (1994). The cultural values of literary tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 21(1), 103-20.
Tetley, S. (1998). Visitor attitudes to authenticity at a literary tourist destination (Doctoral dissertation, Sheffield Hallam University, UK). Retrieved from http://shura.shu.ac.uk/3465/
Wang, N. (1999). Rethinking authenticity in tourism experience. Annals of Tourism Research, 26(2), 349-370.
Watson, N. J. (2006). The literary tourist: Readers and places in Romantic and Victorian Britain. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Waysdorf, A., & Reijnders, S. (2017). The role of imagination in the film tourist experience: The case of Game of Thrones. Participations: Journal of Audience & Reception Studies, 14(1), 170-191. Retrieved from http://www.participations.org/Volume%2014/Issue%201/10.pdf
Amey, E. (2015). On a Quest for Authenticity to an Imaginary Place: A Narrative Analysis of the Experiences of British Literary Tourists (Master’s thesis, University of Lapland, Finland). Retrieved from https://lauda.ulapland.fi/handle/10024/62069
Beeton, S. (2006). Understanding film-induced tourism. Tourism Analysis, 11(3), 181-188.
Bom, A. K. (2015). Where fiction really exists: The staging and experience of authenticity in the literary icon-city. Aktuel forskning ved Institut for Litteratur, Kultur og Medier, December, 85-97.
Boorstin, D. (1964). The image: A guide to pseudo-events in America. New York: Atheneum.
Buchmann, A., Moore, K., & Fisher, D. (2010). Experiencing film tourism: Authenticity & fellowship. Annals of Tourism Research, 37(1), 229-248.
Busby,G., & Klug, J.(2001). Movie-induced tourism: The challenge of measurement and other issues. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 7(4), 316-332.
Cohen, E. (1988). Authenticity and commoditization in tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 15(3), 371-386.
Gothie, S. C. (2016). Playing “Anne”: Red braids, Green Gables, and literary tourists on Prince Edward Island. Tourist Studies, 16(4), 405-421.
Hasebrink, U., & Paus-Hasebrink, I. (2016). Linking fantasy to everyday life: Patterns of orientation and connections to reality in the case of The Hobbit. Participations: Journal of Audience & Reception Studies, 13(2), 223-245. Retrieved from http://www.participations.org/Volume%2013/Issue%202/s1/4.pdf
Hendrix, H. (2009). From early modern to Romantic literary tourism: A diachronical perspective. In N. J. Watson (Ed.), Literary tourism and nineteenth-century culture (pp. 13-24). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Herbert, D. T. (1996). Artistic and literary places in France as tourist attractions. Tourism Management, 17(2), 77-85.
Herbert, D.T. (2001). Literary places, tourism and the heritage experience. Annals of Tourism Research, 28(2), 312-333.
Hoppen, A., Brown, L., & Fyall, A. (2014). Literary tourism: Opportunities and challenges for the marketing and branding of destinations? Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 3(1), 37-47.
Jenkins, H. (1992). Textual poachers: Television fans and participatory culture. New York: Routledge.
Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: Where old and new media collide. New York: New York University Press.
Jenkins, H. (2007, March 21). Transmedia Storytelling 101 [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://henryjenkins.org/blog/2007/03/transmedia_storytelling_101.html
Jenkins, H. (2011, July 31). Transmedia 202: Further Reflections [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://henryjenkins.org/blog/2011/08/defining_transmedia_further_re.html
Kim, S. (2010). Extraordinary experience: Re-enacting and photographing at screen tourism locations. Tourism and Hospitality Planning & Development, 7(1), 59-75.
Knudsen, B. T., & Waade, A. M. (2010). Performative authenticity in tourism and spatial experience: Rethinking the relation between travel, place and emotion in the context of cultural economy and emotional geography. In B. T. Knudsen & A. M. Waade (Eds.), Re-investing authenticity: Tourism, place and emotions (pp. 1-19). Bristol: Channel View Publications.
Laing, J., & Frost W. (2012). Books and travel: Inspiration, quests and transformation. Bristol: Channel View Publications.
MacCannell, D. (1973). Staged authenticity: Arrangements of social space in tourist settings. American Journal of Sociology, 79(3), 589-603.
McLaughlin, D. (2016). The game’s afoot: Walking as practice in Sherlockian literary geographies. Literary Geographies, 2(2), 144-163.
Reijnders, S. (2011). Places of the imagination: Media, tourism, culture. Farnham: Ashgate.
Reijnders, S. (2016). Stories that move: Fiction, imagination, tourism. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 19(6), 672-689.
Reisinger, Y., & Steiner, C. J. (2006). Reconceptualizing object authenticity. Annals of Tourism Research, 33(1), 65-86.
Robinson, M. (2002a). Between and beyond the pages: Literature–tourism relationships. In M. Robinson & H. C. Andersen (Eds.), Literature and tourism: reading and writing tourism texts (pp. 39-79). London: Continuum.
Robinson, M. (2002b). Reading between the lines: Literature and the creation of touristic spaces. Current Writing: Text and Reception in Southern Africa, 14(1), 1-28.
Robinson, M., & Andersen, H. C. (2002). Reading between the lines: Literature and the creation of touristic spaces. In M. Robinson & H. C. Andersen (Eds.), Literature and tourism: reading and writing tourism texts (pp. 1-38). London: Continuum.
Seaton, A. V. (2002). Tourism as metempsychosis and metensomatosis: The personae of eternal recurrence. In G. M. S. Dann (Ed.), The tourist as a metaphor of the social world (pp. 135-168). Wallingford: CABI Publishing.
Sandvik, K., & Waade, A. M. (2008). Crime scene as augmented reality: On Screen, online and offline. Crime Fiction and Crime Journalism in Scandinavia, Working paper no. 5, 1-17.
Squire, S. J. (1991). Meanings, myths and memories: Literary tourism as cultural discourse in Beatrix Potter's Lake District (Doctoral thesis, University of London, UK). Retrieved from http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1317609/
Squire, S. J. (1993). Valuing countryside: Reflections on Beatrix Potter tourism. Area, 25(1), 5-10.
Squire, S. J. (1994). The cultural values of literary tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 21(1), 103-20.
Tetley, S. (1998). Visitor attitudes to authenticity at a literary tourist destination (Doctoral dissertation, Sheffield Hallam University, UK). Retrieved from http://shura.shu.ac.uk/3465/
Wang, N. (1999). Rethinking authenticity in tourism experience. Annals of Tourism Research, 26(2), 349-370.
Watson, N. J. (2006). The literary tourist: Readers and places in Romantic and Victorian Britain. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Waysdorf, A., & Reijnders, S. (2017). The role of imagination in the film tourist experience: The case of Game of Thrones. Participations: Journal of Audience & Reception Studies, 14(1), 170-191. Retrieved from http://www.participations.org/Volume%2014/Issue%201/10.pdf
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Published
2018-06-30
Issue
Section
Narrative and Authenticity
How to Cite
The Search for The ‘Authentic’ in the Context of Narrative-Inspired Travel. (2018). Journal of Narrative and Language Studies, 6(10), 1-16. https://nalans.com/index.php/nalans/article/view/103
