Point out That Much Tourism Is Based on the Written Word While Many Tourists Themselves Are Inspired by What They Read
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Literature, Film and Tourism Travel and literature are closely linked. Robinson and Andersen (2002a) point out that much tourism is based on the written word while many tourists themselves are inspired by what they read. In the first instance there are some forms of writing that are overtly related to tourism: travel guides and guidebooks aim to interpret places to their potential or actual visitors and play an important role in signposting the gaze of the tourist. Similarly there are distinct forms of literature essentially based on tourism. The best example is travel writing in which an author writes of their experiences as a traveller (rarely as a tourist!) usually in faraway locations (see Dann 1999). But in addition there are many works of fiction (novels, prose and poems) which, although not specifically about travel or tourism. Are set in, or evoke, real places and landscapes. This visiting of places associated with works of fiction (or their authors) has become known as literary tourism. This is a form of niche tourism or special interest tourism, although it is also treated as a subset of heritage or cultural tourism (Herbert 2001, M.K. Smith 2009). The relationship between literature and travel and tourism is long established, especially in Britain (Aitchison et al. 2000). From the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries onwards writers played a significant role in creating ‘ways of seeing’ places and landscapes that, in turn, had considerable allure to tourists. For example, up until the eighteenth century few people visited the English Lake District. However, the idealized and nostalgic celebrations of the region’s natural beauty in the poetry of William Wordsworth and other Lakeland poets played a vital role in popularizing the Lakes as the object of the tourist gaze (Newby 1981, Squire 1988). Similarly, the novels and poetry of Walter Scott played a major role in establishing the Scottish Highlands as a land of Romance and mystery (Aitchison et al. 2000, Inglis and Holmes 2003). Thus, literature does more than simply evoke or describe particular places and landscapes: instead, it can play a highly important role in creating these places (Crang 1998) and in subsequently constructing them as the focus of the tourist imagination. While early literary tourism was centred on the sights and sites associated with the authors of ‘classic’ fiction (such as Shakespeare, Dickens, Hardy and Bronte) this form of tourism as broadened significantly in recent decades. As part of the ‘de-differentiation’ that characterizes postmodern societies (Urry 2002) the distinction between ‘high’ and popular culture has largely collapsed. As a result all sorts of locations associated with popular fiction have also become the focus of tourist interest. One example is the development of tourism in the northeast of England centred on the life and works of Catherine Cookson, a writer of popular romantic fiction (Pocock 1992). The development of tourism in Romania inspired by Bram Stocker’s Dracula (and the whole genre of vampire fiction that followed) is also part of this trend. Literary tourism takes various forms (Herbert 1996, 2001, Robinson and Andersen 2002a). In the first place, some tourists are interested in the biography of a particular writer and choose to visit places associated with his/her life and work. There are many buildings with literary associations that have been carefully preserved and opened as tourist attractions. These may include the building in which an author was born (such as Shakespeare’s birthplace) or where they lived and worked (such as Chawton, a former home of Jane Austen. In some cases (for example, Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey) an author’s grave may also become the focus of tourist interest. A visit to such places affords the opportunity to ‘connect’ in some way with the life of the author and gain an insight into the circumstances in which he or she lived and wrote (Robinson and Andersen 2002a). Such tourism – particularly in the context of ‘classic’ literature – has been described as a form of pilgrimage (Pocock 1987). Indeed, the notion of the literary pilgrims – the dedicated scholar and enthusiast – is a well established (if exaggerated) idea (Herbert 2001). This ‘personality-based’ form of literary tourism (Robinson and Andersen 2002b) is, in fact, little different from other forms of heritage tourism that involve visits to buildings or places associated with famous historic figures. Another form of literary tourism entails visits to those places or landscapes that are depicted in, or form the backdrop to, a particular novel. Many writers set their novels in specific locations or were inspired to varying degrees by real places and landscapes. In some instances, the geographical setting is an essential component of the novel: we only have to think of how central Transylvania is to the plot of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Through their imaginative writing many authors have been instrumental in creating and circulating ideas about places and landscapes that have considerable allure to tourists. For some literary tourists the simple act of viewing the landscape may be sufficient to gain a fuller appreciation or enjoyment of the novel. But for others, visiting such a landscape is an opportunity to connect with the imaginary world of the novel. Such is the level of interest in ‘literary landscapes’ (Rojek 1993) that numerous places in Britain – and throughout Europe – now promote and profit from their associations with a particular novel or its author. Literary trails have become commonplace (Rojek 1993) enabling tourists to visit a series of places associated with an author or their work. Furthermore, tourist boards, local authorities and other place promoters have enthusiastically embraced literary connections in the construction of place identities. Thus, Britain has, among others, ‘Bronte Country’, Hardy’s Wessex’ and ‘Catherine Cookson Country’. However, in some instances, tourists may visit a literary landscape less out of interest in a particular author or their work but instead to engage with much broader cultural meanings, values and myths that may have little to do with the location itself. In a study of Beatrix Potter tourism in the English Lake District, Squire (1993, 1994) argued that tourists at Hill Top Farm (Potter’s former home) were doing much more than just visiting a building associated with a particular author. Instead, their visit was a starting point for much wider forms of introspection and escapism. For some people, the visit was an occasion for nostalgia centred on idealized memories of childhood and family life. For others it was an occasion to reflect upon broader cultural myths and values surrounding rural life, the countryside, authenticity and the nature of Englishness. As such, literary tourism at Hill Top Farm was not so much about Beatrix Potter herself as about a much wider range of experiences and emotions that were evoked by her stories. In a similar way, a visit to Transylvania is an opportunity to engage with ideas of Otherness and the supernatural that go well beyond Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Thus, visiting a literary landscape can also be an opportunity to perform identities (whether individual or collective) and affirm senses of self through reflecting on the nature of the Other (Robinson 2002). Overall then, one of the defining characteristics of literary tourism (and something that sets it apart from many other forms of contemporary tourism) is that it takes place simultaneously in both real and imagined worlds. It is travel that takes place as much in the mind as in a material geographical setting. A visit to a literary place is an occasion where the boundaries between fiction and reality become increasingly blurred (Robinson and Andersen 2002a). Reading a novel is itself something that engages the imagination: it is an opportunity to suspend disbelief and to escape (temporarily) into other places with other people (Robinson 2002). In a similar way, a visit to a literary landscape is another opportunity to enter the imaginative world of a novel (Herbert 2001). Visits to literary places are opportunities to indulge in – and enact – speculation, fantasy and escapism (Squire 1994) as well as being occasions for fun and play. For example, studies on ‘Bronte tourism’ at Haworth have noted that imagining scenes and characters from the novels – particularly Wuthering Heights – was an important part of the experience for some visitors (Pocock 1987, Tetley and Bramwell 2002). Similarly visitors to Hotel Castle Dracula in Transylvania (see Chapter 5) described the excitement of hoping to encounter Dracula at some stage of their visit along with the thrill of being slightly scared whilst in Transylvania (Light 2009a). In short, literary tourism involves the fusing of the real and imagined worlds (Herbert 2001) and each tourist define their own boundaries between the two (Robinson and Andersen 2002a). To recognize the imaginative dimension of literary tourism inevitably leads to the notion of myth (and in particular ‘literary myths’). ‘Myth’ is a widely used but ambiguous term. In its original use ‘myth’ referred to ancient narratives (such as those from Greek mythology) involving heroic, supernatural or divine figures that had significance for the life of a particular community. However, more recently ‘myth’ has taken on a range of meanings and is now used to refer to anything that deviates to some extent from reality (Boia 2001b). Thus the term ‘myth’ is used as a label for ideas or stories that do not have a strictly factual basis but which are believed in some way. Myths have long been the focus of academic scrutiny and two broad perspectives can be identified (Johns and Clarke 2001). The anthropological approach treats myths as narratives or beliefs that are part of the realm of the imaginary (Overing 1997, Boia 2001b). This approach focuses on the uses of myths within the everyday lives of contemporary societies and the ways in which they frame daily practice in the material world (Overing 1997).