Napier University, Edinburgh, UK World Heritage, Tourism and National Identity: Tijana Rakic
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Napier University, Edinburgh, UK DOCTORAL (PhD) THESIS World Heritage, Tourism and National Identity: a case study of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece Author: Tijana Rakic This thesis was submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) awarded by Napier University, Edinburgh. SUBMISSION DATE: 29 October 2008 Abstract The Athenian Acropolis, the cradle of Western civilisation, a popular visitor attraction and the key symbol of Greekness is a world renowned heritage site. Among the myriad symbolic resonances it carries, the Acropolis is also said to symbolise the World Heritage idea (UNESCO, 2006a) and to embody the Greek nation (Yalouri, 2001). This interdisCiplinary research, based on [visual] anthropology and [cultural] geography and philosophically underpinned by constructivism, explores the relationships between World Heritage, tourism and national identity for the particular case of the Acropolis. The significance of this research lies in its contribution to understanding the role World Heritage and tourism play in the construction and the consumption of Greekness, and importantly also, in its contribution to methodological developments in tourism studies due to its utilisation of innovative, visual alongside the more traditional research methods. While relying on different media such as text, illustrative still photography, a video clip, and a 26 minute ethnographic documentary to convey its findings, this thesis demonstrates that, in its own distinct way, visitation to the Athenian Acropolis had (and still has) a role to play in the Greek nation building project, while despite its World Heritage status, both producers of tourism materials as well as visitors to the site seemed to still perceive the Acropolis as being mainly about Greekness rather than 'universality' and as belonging to and representing Greece rather than the World. These raise important questions about the 'universal validity' of UNESCO's World Heritage idea. Indeed, these findings have made it possible to perceive World Heritage as a project which has essentially failed to create a 'universal' or 'world' category of heritage, and where, especially for the Athenian Acropolis, the symbol of the World Heritage idea (UNESCO, 2006a), World Heritage can perhaps more appropriately be understood as a synonym for contested heritage. Keywords: World Heritage, Greekness, Tourism, Acropolis, Visual Methods 2 Acknowledgements Very special thanks to Donna Chambers, my director of studies and an extraordinary scholar, for her guidance on this magical journey towards a Doctorate of Philosophy. To Donna, I am more than grateful for all her continuous encouragements, for our innumerable discussions, for inspiring me to engage ever more critically and ever more deeply in my quests towards understanding, for opening the doors of my [hopefully continuing] engagement with the fascinating worlds of philosophies of science and the studies of tourism, for her openness to new ideas and methods, for the endless hours she spent meticulously reading and commenting my manuscripts, for the papers she wrote with me, for understanding the problems I found on the way, in brief, for being a superb supervisor and a friend throughout this process. Many thanks for their encouragement, scholarly or personal opinions, discussions, supervision as well as their friendship are due to John Ensor, Anna Leask, Penny Travlou and Vasiliki Galani-Moutafi. Special thanks for their friendship, encouragement, support and discussions are due to Helena Mitrovic, Christos Zografos, Laura Ciudad, Nikos Kourampas, Vangelis Makrigiannakis, Louise Milne, Ariadne Xenou, Roger Buck, Constantia Anastasiadou, Katy Anderson-Logothethi, Bryan Mcintosh, Christina Zoupi, Christina Bonarou, Marina Emmanouil, Eleana Yalouri, Dave Marsden, Elaine Thomson, Caroline Scarles, Rajorshi Chakraborti, Senija Causevic, Paul Lynch, Alexander Grit, Anne Munro, Martin Robertson, Jane Ali-Knight, Ian Solly, David Jarman, Vasiliki Koutrafouri, Christina Oliver, Giota Kyriakopoulou, Yiannis Stagias, Marianna Katifori, Nikos Thalassinos, Ebru Salman, Yorgos Valais, Panagiotis Stathopoulos, Vasilis Panagiotou, Markos Oikonomides, Nikos Andreou, Georgia Desylla, Panagiotis Eleytherakos, Dimitris Halvatzaras, Yiannis Holevas and Line Kjellerup. My thanks are also due to here unnamed [tourism and non-tourism] scholars whom I met at conferences and elsewhere, as well as those whom I have not met but who happened to review some of the papers published from this research, whose comments and opinions greatly helped me in developing some of the ideas later incorporated in ~his manuscript. 3 Many thanks are due to my parents and especially my mother, Oriana Orlie, who encouraged me with all her heart throughout this, at times rather difficult process. Very special thanks to my grandmothers, Marija Orlie and Pavlija Spasie, for their support as well as to my brother, Nikola Rakie, who although very young (13) wanted to know what, why and how I was researching and who wondered why I chose the Acropolis and not one of our hometown monuments. Many thanks are also due to my parents-in-law loanna and Manolis Karagiannakis for their support and encouragement throughout my studies and above all during my PhD. I am particularly grateful to my mother-in-law, loanna, for her involvement with my topic, discussions and for all the precious books from her private library which she lent me. Thanks for rare books are also due to Nasa Efentaki, my aunt-in-Iaw, while special thanks also go to Sophia Karagiannaki, my sister-in-law, a friend and a neighbour in Athens, for her encouragements as well as for lending me some of her books and a collection of postcards from the 1980s. I am also more than grateful to the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation and Napier University (NUBS, School of Marketing, Tourism and Languages and Alumni) for partly funding this research as well as the Greek National Tourism Organisation, Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Culture for providing important data and allowing me to film at the Acropolis. Many thanks also to my informants for sparing some of their often very limited time at the Acropolis to talk to me . ... finally, my warmest and deepest thanks are due to Vorgos Karagiannakis, my husband, partner in life and in filmmaking, as well as my source of inspiration, to whom I dedicate this manuscript. I am more than grateful to him for bearing with me, encouraging and helping me in many different ways: from reading and commenting my texts to helping me with some of the camera work, making digital maps of visitor movements and favourite spots at the Acropolis based on my hand-made drawings and editing the footage. I am also endlessly grateful to him for guiding me on my journeys in cinematography, triggering my curiosity about Greece and its history, my love for camera work and documentary filmmaking, our numerous discussions, all his love and his fabulous cooking ... 4 List of Contents ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................................... 2 ACKNOWLEDGEM ENTS ............................................................................................................ 3 LIST 0 F CONTENTS ..........................................................................................................•.•....•.. s LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................................... 8 LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................... 9 I INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY CHAPTER I SETIING TIlE STAGE ................................................................................... 11 1.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ II 1.2 BACKGROUND, RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ................................................................ 12 1.3 RESEARCH PROCESS ................................................................................................................. 16 1.4 THESIS STRUCTURE .................................................................................................................. 17 1.5 CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................................................................... 21 II A LITERATURE REVIEW CHAPTER 2 NATIONS, NATIONAL IDENTITIES AND THE CASE OF GREECE ••• 14 2.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 24 2.2 WHAT IS A NATION? ................................................................................................................. 25 2.3 INNATE OR CONSTRUCTED? ••••••••••••••.••••••••••.••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 30 2.4 CONSTRUCTING THE NATION AND ITS IDENTITY: THE CASE OF GREECE ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 37 2.5 CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................................................................... 43 CHAPTER 3 CONSTRUCTING GREEKNESS: THE ROLE OF HERITAGE •••••••••••••• 45 3.1 INTRODUCTION ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••.•••••••••••••••.•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••.••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 45 3.2 DEFINING HERITAGE, ITS HISTORICAL AND CURRENT ROLE •••••••••••••••••••••••.•••••••••.••••••••••.•••••••