The Nyhavn Experience
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The Nyhavn Experience A non-representational perspective The deconstruction of the Nyhavn experience through hygge By Maria Sørup-Høj Aalborg University 2017 Tourism Master Thesis Supervisor: Martin Tranberg Jensen Submission date: 31 May 2017 Abstract This thesis sets out to challenge the existing way of doing tourism research by using a non- representational approach in looking into the tourist experience of Nyhavn, Denmark. The Nyhavn experience is deconstructed through the Danish phenomenon hygge, where it is being investigated how the contested space of Nyhavn with its many rationalities creates the frames, which hygge may unfold within. It is demonstrated how hygge is a multiple concept, which is constituted through various elements, including the audience, the actors and their actions, the weather, the sociality, the materiality and the political landscape in Nyhavn. The elements in the study are being discussed separately in order to give a better view on the different aspects. However, it is important to note point out that these aspects cannot be seen as merely individual aspects of establishing hygge, but that they are interrelated and interconnected in the creation of the atmosphere of hygge. The collecting of the data was done via embodied methods inspired by the performative turn in tourism, where the focus is on the embodied and multisensous experience. This is carried out by integrating pictures, video and audio clips, observant participation and impressionist tales in order to try to make the ephemeral phenomenon hygge as concrete as possible. Furthermore, data have been collected via netnography on TripAdvisor and travel blogs respectively. The study is characterized by being transdisciplinary, where theory has been drawn in from various fields, such as tourism, human geography, sociology, anthropology and sociology of the senses. Within this framework hygge has been unravelled by looking at the phenomenon from various angles and drawing in different ways of investigating the phenomenon. The analysis is characterized by being multimodal in order to cover the multifaceted hygge in connection with the tourism experience, which in itself is perceived as being multimodal. The analysis consists of three main sections, which deal with hygge from a historical perspective, hygge as infrastructure and hygge as socio-materially constructed. These three aspects were shown to be not only part of the scenery in Nyhavn, but also to have an influence on whether hygge has the possibility to flourish, or whether it is disrupted or even destroyed. Even though atmospheres are a central part of the tourism experience, it has not gained much interest within tourism research as a subject. The aim for this thesis has therefore been to contribute to the performative studies within tourism research by challenging the conservative ways in which the majority of tourism research is carried out. Keywords: Hygge Non-representational Atmospheres Audio-visual methods Sensescapes Nyhavn 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 INTRODUCTION AND STANDPOINT ...................................................................................................................................... 4 1.2 RESEARCH QUESTION ............................................................................................................................................................ 6 1.3 SETTING THE (HYGGELIGE) SCENE ...................................................................................................................................... 7 2 METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................................................................... 8 2.1 INTRODUCTION: GRASPING THE UNGRASPABLE ............................................................................................................... 8 2.2 CASE STUDY ............................................................................................................................................................................. 8 2.3 DATA COLLECTION ................................................................................................................................................................. 9 2.3.1 Observant Participation ............................................................................................................................................... 10 2.3.2 Visual and Audio Methodologies .............................................................................................................................. 11 2.3.3 Documentary Materials and Netnography .......................................................................................................... 12 2.3.3.1 TripAdvisor ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 13 2.3.3.2 Blogs ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14 2.4 DATA COLLECTION PROCESS ............................................................................................................................................. 14 2.4.1 Coding ................................................................................................................................................................................... 14 2.4.2 Describing Action: Impressionist Tales ................................................................................................................. 15 2.5 IMPLICATIONS AND LIMITATIONS ..................................................................................................................................... 15 2.6 VALIDITY ............................................................................................................................................................................... 17 2.7 METHODOLOGICAL CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................................... 17 3 LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................................................................... 18 3.1 THEORETICAL INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................... 18 3.2 THE PERFORMATIVE TURN IN TOURISM ......................................................................................................................... 18 3.2.1 Tourism Spaces ................................................................................................................................................................. 19 3.2.2 Senses and the Sensescapes ........................................................................................................................................ 21 3.3 HYGGE AND ITS IMPLICATIONS .......................................................................................................................................... 22 3.3.1 Characteristics of Hygge .............................................................................................................................................. 23 3.3.2 The Downside of Hygge................................................................................................................................................. 24 2 3.3.3 Is it Hyggeligt for Everyone? ...................................................................................................................................... 25 3.4 EMBRACING THE INTANGIBLE ........................................................................................................................................... 25 3.4.1 Atmospheres ....................................................................................................................................................................... 27 3.4.1.1 Light - a Co-creator of Atmospheres ...................................................................................................................................................... 28 3.5 THEORETICAL CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................................. 29 4 ANALYSIS .................................................................................................................................................................. 30 4.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................................... 30 4.2 HYGGE FROM A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ..................................................................................................................... 30 4.2.1 Nostalgia and Imagined Space .................................................................................................................................. 32 4.2.1 The Commercial Aspect ...............................................................................................................................................