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Social Science Cultural

Being a Tourist

Finding Meaning in Pleasure Travel

by (author) Julia Harrison

Publisher
UBC Press
Initial publish date
Oct 2007
Category
Cultural, General
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780774850391
    Publish Date
    Oct 2007
    List Price
    $32.95
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780774809788
    Publish Date
    Jul 2003
    List Price
    $34.95
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780774809771
    Publish Date
    Nov 2002
    List Price
    $95.00

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

What is meaningful about the experience of travelling abroad? What feeds the impulse to explore new horizons? In Being a Tourist, Harrison analyzes her conversations with a large group of upper-middle-class travellers. Why, she asks, do these people invest their resources -- financial, emotional, psychological, and physical -- in this activity? Harrison suggests that they are fuelled by several desires, including a search for intimacy and connection, an expression of personal aesthetic, an exploration of the understanding of "home," and a sensemaking strategy for a globalized world. She also reflects on the moral and political complexities of the travels of these people.

Being a Tourist draws on a wide range of social theory, going beyond current debates of authenticity and consumption. Engagingly and thoughtfully written, it will be required reading for those in anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, and, more generally, for anyone interested in tourism studies and travel writing.

About the author

Contributor Notes

Julia D. Harrison, formerly a museum curator, is an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at Trent University.

Editorial Reviews

The flavor is ethnographic and particularistic; Harrison provides many conceptual frames through which to view the experiences of her interviewees, yet their own voices come through. This retention of individuality makes the book unique, providing an unusual narrative depth. The author's command of the theoretical literature is impressive ... Highly recommended.

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