What had we expected? I had expected a research seminar on the anthropology of dance. Instead we had a research seminar on the darker side of tourism with Jonathan Skinner from the University of Roehampton. http://www.roehampton.ac.uk/staff/Jonathan-Skinner/ As a traveller, I was interested, and thought perhaps it would be a analysis of the darker side of the tourist industry. It was in a sense.
Death Camps, prisons... the low points of humanity.
What is the darker side of tourism? What about taking a tour of the crash site of Princess Diana's death? Is that on the bucket list of things to do before you die? What would you get out of this experience as a tourist? Is it voyeuristic? How dark would you rate this attraction? Would you go? Would it touch in you emotion? Would it enable you to make contact with more powerful forces in a commodified society? What is dark tourism?
Our first stop on this trip is Montserrate, where the volcanic eruption, which claimed the lives of 17 people, and encouraged the government to first declare a national day of prayer, and secondly to start encouraging 'volcano tourism'. What do you think about that?
Next is HM Prison Maze or Long Kesh, depending, the site of the H blocks where Unionists and Republicans were both incarcerated during the troubles from 1971 to 2000. And this 'tourist site' is so contentious in a still polarised society. There was once a proposal to dig a tunnel to allow tourists the effect of coming up into the prison for dramatic effect, but this was criticised as glamorous and would have the effect of 'the great escape'.
A tour guide in HM Prison Maze/Long Kesh is impartial, which means that they will not tell you which side of the troubles in Northern Ireland they were on. If the group is a Unionist, the tour will focus on that perspective, if it is Republican, it will focus on that perspective. There is no meeting point between these two positions. As an anthropologist it was difficult to not be labelled as belonging to one side of the other. And what did 'tourists' gain out of this experience? What would you feel visiting a place like this?
Tours sometimes include people who have first hand experience of being imprisoned in Maze, and as such add their first hand experiences to the knowledge of the tour guide new stories that will come up in a future tour, further adding to the construction of that experience for future groups.
What is to be made of this dark heritage? Many of the H blocks have now been demolished with only one H block remaining. Should it be kept for future generations? Should it be left to slowly decay?
As human beings, as well as anthropologists, what can we learn from the sites which represent the darker side of our natures?
I can understand the want of people to go to these places. The other day I was on a bus and there was an ambulance and police car up ahead. As we passed the scene I wanted to see what was happening. Someone kneeling on the floor, next to someone else being treated by paramedics. And then the moment was gone.
ReplyDeleteFor some of the 'darker side of tourism' places I can understand people wanting to connect with their shared history and to understand what has gone before. Monuments to our past, perhaps, so we can learn lessons for the future.
Thanks for the comment Jez. I totally agree with you, there is a certain fasination thaat comes over you when you see an accident on the road. I found people at my hostel staring out the window at the scene of an incident, and oddly I found myself moving them on. I always think of the privacy of the victims (but that is not judging people for looking). The academic talking yesterday mentioned how perhaps we are living in a cotton wool society and we are drawn to visiting sites of a dark nature to put us in touch with feeling more alive, a rite of passage of sorts. There is a lot more to be said about this topic, the above post was a starting point.
ReplyDeleteThe concerning thing about places like the Maze is that point about having these experiences to help us learn from the past mistakes and how not to repeat them. An artichect during the discussion made the point that the ethics of keeping the two opposing sides separate without any contact between their world views was questionable. There is no opportunity to heal the 'hate', in short. I did not want to go into too much depth about Maze because I wanted to stay focued on the topic of darker tourism, and not get side tracked into the Northern Ireland Conflict, but these points about how sites are presented to tourists are important to the subject. Perhaps in fifty years time, the Maze will become a site for mutual understanding, but this is not the current situation. This is where anthropology starts to meet the psycosocial, and this is something I want to explore further, how anthropology relates to psycology.
The sacademic mentioned how there does seem to be a emotional change in people who go through visiting 'darker' tourism attractions. They return to their normal lives with a new perspective on life, and I can relate to this in my own experiences, having visited Bosnia to work as a volunteer, and perhaps I will write another blog post on these topics.
Thank you for commenting on my blog.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the topic of this post, I think some of out interest to "dark" tourism has to do with catharsis. I don't know if it counts as such, but I did visit the Police or Crime Museum (I cannot remember the name) in Vancouver as I am fascinated by crime history. History in general, thinking about it, is often dark and bloody.
No problem, I enjoyed your post because I am always being told off for worrying about turning 30, and reading your post made me realise how pointless worrying out age really is.
ReplyDeleteHistory is dark and bloody. I don't know about Crime history, but there maybe some cathartic elements to it. A way of trying to understand the darkness in human nature and therefore making it less threatening?
Perhaps we need the dark tourism as much as we need the light sitting on the beach sipping cocktails. I recall a friend of mine saying this, I think.
The present is amazingly bloody as well (thinking of the Ukraine). I suppose visiting Bosnia meant I met people who had experienced horrors beyond my imagining, and in that sense, did I receive the gift of perspective? I don't think it really hit me until I got back to the UK and did more research into the conflict. And then it hit me.
Good to hear from you. Thanks for the comment. ;-)