Travelling to the Ancestral Homelands: the Aspirations and Experiences of a UK Caribbean Community
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of the South Pacific Electronic Research Repository Current Issues in Tourism ISSN: 1368-3500 (Print) 1747-7603 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcit20 Travelling to the Ancestral Homelands: The Aspirations and Experiences of a UK Caribbean Community Marcus L. Stephenson To cite this article: Marcus L. Stephenson (2002) Travelling to the Ancestral Homelands: The Aspirations and Experiences of a UK Caribbean Community, Current Issues in Tourism, 5:5, 378-425, DOI: 10.1080/13683500208667932 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13683500208667932 Published online: 29 Mar 2010. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 224 View related articles Citing articles: 29 View citing articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rcit20 Download by: [University of the South Pacific] Date: 01 February 2016, At: 15:57 Travelling to the Ancestral Homelands: The Aspirations and Experiences of a UK Caribbean Community Marcus L. Stephenson Senior Lecturer in the Sociology of Tourism, International Institute for Culture, Tourism and Development, University of North London, 277–281 Holloway Road, London N7 8HN, UK Thispaper is based on anethnographic study of theCaribbean community of Moss Side,Manchester (UK). Its aim isto reveal,interpret and analysethe personal meanings which membersof thecommunity attachto visitingthe ancestral homeland in the Caribbean.This form of travelis definedin termsof ‘ethnicreunion’ , which involves travellingfor the purpose of visitingfriends and relativesand/ or searchingfor one’ s culturalroots. The study, which isbased on aninterpretive analysis of arangeof ethnographicmaterial, initially examines the reasons why first-and second-generation Caribbeanswish to participatein the‘ homeland experience’, and thenillustrates ways inwhich they reconstructan identity of themselvesthrough theirtravel perceptions and experiences.The latterpart of thepaper discusses how people’s travelencounters serveto illustratehow ethnicdifference sand boundariesbetween groups are constructedand/ or reconstructed.It is arguedthat established perspectives of tourism motivation and behaviour do not fullyaccount for the role of ethnicityas a significant variablein influencingspecific forms of travel.The conclusion assertsthat ethnic reunion should beconceptually viewed as a distinctform of ‘travel’, socioculturally dissimilar to conventional forms of ‘tourism’. Introduction ‘Ethnicity’is a commonlydiscussed component of tourismmotivation, usually associatedwith an individual’s desire tobe acquaintedwith other ethnic communitiesand attain cultural knowledge of their customsand way of life (Harron& Weiler, 1992;Smith, 1989; Van den Berghe &Keyes, 1984).Thus, the ethnicity variablepredominantly applies tothose forms of tourismwherever ethnic resourcesfeature asmajor‘ pull factors’of motivation(e.g. ethnic cuisine, artsand folklore). These motivationalresources have encouraged the growthof ‘ethnic tourism’(Smith: 1989:4), i.e. a formof tourismmanufactured from the desire toseek outthe culturalexoticism of other ethnic groupsand societies (Harron& Weiler, 1992).Although ethnic tourismhas historically been exam- Downloaded by [University of the South Pacific] at 15:57 01 February 2016 ined withinthe contextof non-Western societies(Harron & Weiler, 1992;Smith, 1989;Van den Berghe &Keyes, 1984),ethnic groupsand cultures within Western urban communitieshave also become increasingly exoticisedand commoditised under the influence of the ‘tourist gaze’ (Urry, 1990: 144). However,the view ofethnicity asasignificant‘ pull factor’of motivationtends tounderplay the roleof ethnicity asthe initialor primary motivation. There isa need toconsider how people’ s aspirationsand preferences aredirectly influ- enced by their value systems,beliefs, opinionsand cultural backgrounds. While someenquiries havedrawn attention to the religious characteristicsand cultural 1368-3500/02/05 0378-48 $20/0 © 2002 M.L. Stevenson Current Issues in Tourism Vol. 5, No.5, 2002 378 Travelling to the Ancestral Homelands Travelling to the Ancestral Homelands 379 traitsof ‘nationalcommunities’ as prime indicatorsin explaining traveland tour- ismbehaviour (Din, 1989;Pizam & Sussmann,1995; Ritter, 1987), the behav- iouralcharacteristics of thoseethnic minoritygroups who reside in such communitieshave not been significantlyaddressed in the studyof tourismand ethnicity.Given thatWestern (tourist-generating) societiesare increasingly cosmopolitanin natureand form (Dann, 1993),it is important to consider the motivationalchoices and travel experiences ofparticularminority groups. More- over,there isa need torecognise that‘ ethnic tourism’manifests other conceptual meanings.As King notes:‘ The otherand less frequent use ofthe termethnic tour- ismis where itapplies totravel movements whose primary motivation is ethnic reunion’ (1994: 173–4). In thiscontext, ethnic reunion involvesvisiting friends andrelatives 1 and/or searchingor re-searching forone’ s culturalroots (King, 1994).This form of travel hasbeen identified asa popular activityfor a number of ethnic communities living overseas:Barbadian (Western, 1992),Greek Cypriot(Thanopoulos & Walle,1988), Pakistani (Khan, 1977)andTurkish communities(Liu et al., 1984). Some ofthese studiesdirectly focused onthe economicdimensions of the VFR (visiting friends andrelatives) market, highlighting howhigh disposable incomesare important in determining the frequency of visitsto the ancestral homeland(Thanopoulos & Walle,1988) and how such forms of travelhave a significantimpact on the homelandeconomy (Liu et al.,1984).Importantly, recent technologicaldevelopments andadvancements in transportand commu- nicationnetworks have created more opportunities for (diasporic) minority groupsto travel to places of ethnic significance,thereby encouraging such groupsto strengthen their ‘borderrelations with the oldcountry’ 2 (Clifford, 1994: 304). Nevertheless,enquiries concerning ethnic reunion issuesin tourismhave not generally examined the socioculturalfactors which influence individualsto travelto their ancestralhomelands. Furthermore, they havenot significantly addressedthe complexnature of subsequent encountersand experiences. A fuller understandingof the interrelationshipsbetween ethnicity,tourism and ethnic reunion requires adeeper theoreticaland empirical analysis. The process ofestablishing and implementing adetailedmethodological approach to the study of ethnic reunion is advanced in the next section of this paper. If ethnicity isinterpreted simplisticallyas a processby which individuals allude toa sense of belonging togroups with similar sociocultural traits and Downloaded by [University of the South Pacific] at 15:57 01 February 2016 normativebehaviour (Drury, 1994),then suchdimensions may havea bearing on howtravel aspirations and experiences areconstructed. This paper identifies andexamines sociocultural meanings associated with travelling to the ancestral homelandsin the Caribbean.Thus the workis basedon ethnographicresearch conductedin the Caribbean communityof MossSide, Manchester(UK), adistrict locatedone mile south-westof the citycentre. The studygroup iscomposed of a researchconfederate, key informantsand a range ofpeople living orworkingin the Moss Side district. The studyinitially identifies the personalquests and social obligations associ- atedwith ethnic reunion. By consideringtwo specific ‘primaryreference groups’3(Moutinho,1987: 8), peers andmatriarchal relatives, it then highlights the socialfactors which encourage individualsto attachthemselves to the ances- 380 Current Issues in Tourism tralhomeland. The analysisdirects attention to how mothers and grandmothers havea productiverole in encouraging their children andgrandchildren toestab- lisha closerelationship with their place of origin.It is asserted that cultural knowledge, reproduced throughmatriarchal and peer group networks,poten- tiallyenables individualsto formulatea personalconnection with, and create a place image of,the homeland.The lattersection of the studyexamines the contrastingways in which individualsperceive andclassify their rolesas ‘non-tourists’, ‘locals’/ ’hosts’and ‘ foreigners’. Finally, itincorporates an analy- sisof the culturalcodes of behaviour andcustomary practices associated with ethnic reunion, in particular,the giving ofpresentsto relatives on arrivalat the ancestraldestination. Importantly, this practice illustrates the culturalsignifi- canceof the reciprocalrelationships that coexist between visitorsand family members. In orderto identify the fundamentalbehavioural components of ethnic reunion, itis necessary to consider those commonly discussed social attributes of tourismmotivation and behaviour. Accordingly, the workdiscusses whether the desire tovisitthe ancestralhomeland manifests a collectiveand religious quest (MacCannell,1976; Graburn, 1983, 1989) and incorporates a need totranscend the ‘socialdislocations’ of everyday life (Cohen &Taylor,1992; Krippendorf, 1987;MacCannell, 1976). It also addresses the extent towhich homelandexperi- ences promote‘ self-actualisation’(Pearce &Caltabiano,1983), contribute to an ‘enhanced ego’(Dann, 1977)or an elevated ‘socialstatus’ (Crompton, 1979; Smith,1993), and involve ‘ anti-structural’types ofbehaviour thatare distinct fromthe normsand structures of everyday life (Gottlieb,1982;