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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity 1
It is understood that…concepts are purely differential and defined not by their
positive content but negatively by their relations with the other terms of the system.
Their most precise characteristic is in being what the others are not.
1!""#11$%
&erdinand de Saussure' Course in General Linguistics.
Amongst the central features associated with postmodernism in the arts are# the
effacement of the boundary between art and everyday life( the collapse of the
hierarchical distinction between high and mass)popular culture( a stylistic
promiscuity favouring eclecticism and the mi*ing of codes( parody' pastiche' irony'
playfulness and the celebration of the surface +depthlessness, of culture( the decline
of the originality)genius of the artistic producer( and the assumption that art can only
be repetition. 1!!1#$-%
/i0e &eatherstone' Consumer Culture and Postmodernism
2A&T
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity 3
Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity
In tourism there are only differences. I hope that Saussure will not be
upset that I appropriated that concept from his writing. Tourism' as ean
/ac4annell has suggested in his important boo0' The Tourist, can be
understood as an e*ercise in applied semiotics by travelers who don5t reali6e
the semiotic nature of their activities. 7et me begin by saying something about
the characteristics of international tourism.
Defining International Tourism
7et me suggest that international tourism has the following
characteristics. Tourism is#
1. temporary' done for a relatively short period of time
3. based on choice
8. tied to leisure and pleasure
9. an important part of our consumer culture
:. not involved with business generally%
". based on round trips
$. tied to technological developments in travel
. a mass phenomenon
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity 8
/ac4annell argues that the tourist should be seen as the best model for modern
man and woman' though I will argue that postmodern is a better description of
tourists.
&rom a semiotic perspective we can say that tourists consume signs;
signifiers of one sort or another;of the cultures they have visited' and many of
these sign are recorded nowadays on digital cameras. I will deal in more
details with the semiotics of tourism shortly. > million international arrivals according to statistics from the
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity 9
MacCannell on Differentiation and the Semiotics of Tourism
In The Tourist, /ac4annell suggests that his boo0 is based on the
notion of differentiation' which he defines as 1!$"#11%#
the totality of differences between social classes' life-styles' racial and
ethnic groups' age grades the youth' the aged%' political and
professional groups and the mythic representation of the past to the
present. ifferentiation is a systemic variable it is not confined to a
specific institution of society' nor does it originate in or institution or
place and spread to others. It operates independently and
simultaneously throughout society.
In tourism' as in language as Saussure pointed out% we search for differences(
these differences help us understand ourselves better and see our societies and
cultures in a new light
/ac4annell says that he discovered' as a result of his research into
tourism' that 1!$"#18%#
+ sightseeing is a ritual !erformed to the differentiations of society.
Sightseeing is a 0ind of collective striving for transcendence of the
modern totality' a way of attempting to overcome the discontinuity of
modernity' of incorporating its fragments into unified e*perience.
The term +sightseeing', which is a ma@or component of tourism' has' of course'
implications for a semiotic approach to tourism. Tourism is' at its most
reductionist best' a form of sign consumption.
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity :
re!resents something to someone., Tourist attractions' /ac4annell suggests'
are signs and thus semiotics is necessary to understand tourism. e uses the
term +mar0er, to deal with representations of' or information about' sights that
are found in guideboo0s' maga6ine articles and other media.
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity "
show on the computer in which digital photographs are shown' one after
another.
In the "eginning #as $oland "arthes
It was 2oland Barthes5 Mythologies that showed how a semiotic
approach to &rench culture can offer astonishing insights and his study of
Fapanese culture and society in %m!ire of Signs that showed how semiotics
can help us understand the tourist e*perience. Barthes was a tourist when he
visited Fapan. %m!ire of Signs offers us a model for the semiotic analysis of
tourism. This boo0' first published in &rench in 1!$> and translated into
Gnglish in 1!3 It consists of 3" short chapters on such topics as Pachin0o'
Fapanese chopstic0s' bowing' Fapanese eyelids' tempura and pac0age design.
In the first paragraph of the boo0' Barthes writes 1!3#8%
If I want to imagine a fictive nation' I can give it an invented name'
treat it declaratively as a novelistic ob@ect' create a new arabagne' so
as to compromise no real country by my fantasy…I can also;though
in now way claiming to represent or analy6e reality itself these being
the ma@or gestures of
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity $
of +flashes', or provided him with +a situation of writing, in which he will find
meaning in +gardens' gestures' houses' flower arrangements' faces' violence.,
This statement reminds us of what /ac4annell had to say about the way
tourists e*perience San &rancisco and' by implication' all other places they
visit.
Barthes offers us a model for the touristic analysis and interpretation
of foreign cultures#
1. e will focus on +flashes', that is;topics' that is sites and
activities that stri0e him as significant.
3. e will use semiotics to interpret these important cultural signs
and relate them to social' cultural and ideological considerations.
8. e will not attempt to offer a coherent picture of the country he is
analy6ing.
In principle' we can posit a +good, tourist' who investigates a culture and
moves beyond the descriptions of places to see found in guideboo0s and other
publications. In reality' many tourists;perhaps because they are rushing
around so frantically--don5t ma0e much of an effort to analy6e and interpret the
significance of the sights and sites they see. To my mind' tourists planning a
trip to Fapan would find reading %m!ire of Signs an invaluable guide to
Fapanese culture which would greatly enhance their visits. uideboo0s tend to
focus on historical phenomena and neglect the enriching insights and
understanding that a semiotic approach to tourism brings' though in recent
years many guideboo0s have become interested in discussion social and
political matters..
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity
&or am e*ample of Barthes5 methods' let us consider his analysis of
Fapanese food in his chapter +&ood ecentered., is discussion of Su0iya0i
focuses on rawness in Fapanese food. e writes 1!3#3>%#
2awness' we 0now' is the tutelary divinity of Fapanese food# ?T it
everything is dedicated' and if Fapanese coo0ing is always performed
in front of the eventual diner a fundamental feature of this cuisine%'
this is probably because it is so important to consecrate by spectacle
the death of what is being honored…Fapanese rawness is essentially
visual# it denoted a certain colored state of the flesh or vegetable
substance it being understood that color is never e*hausted by a
catalogue of tints' but refers to a whole tactility of substance( thus
sashimi e*hibits not so much colors as resistances# those which vary
the flesh of raw fish causing it to pass' from one end of the tray to the
other' through the stations of the soggy' the fibrous' the elastic' the
compact' the rough' the slippery%.
This e*cerpt offers a taste' we may say' of the way Barthes is able to read
important insights into Fapanese cuisine and culture. Barthes analysis of
Fapanese culture leads us to another aspect of differentiation;our search for
the e*otic.
The Tourist Search for the %(otic
If tourism is based on the desire for difference;for the e*perience of
different landscapes' different foods' different styles clothing' different ways of
living;then we can say there are two 0inds of differentiation# strong and wea0
or +the different, and +the e*otic., An American' living in San &rancisco'
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity !
would e*perience Paris' for e*ample' as different. But not greatly different
from his life in San &rancisco. ?n the other hand' a San &ranciscan who visits
Fapan or Bali or India finds differences of a whole order of magnitude;what I
call the e*otic. In Fapan' we have variations of differentiation. Some parts of
Fapan are similar to what people in San &rancisco are familiar with' but others
aren5t.
In his boo0 The Image ) Guide to Pseudo*%vents in )merica, aniel
F. Boorstin discusses what he describes as our +newly e*aggerated
e*pectations, about travel.
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity 1>
Everyday Life The Exotic
Eear istant
The Present The Past
&amiliar Strange
/odern Ancient' Traditional
The s0yscraper The ut
The Supermar0et The Sou0
4athedrals indu Temples' /osDues
Guro-American 4uisine Gthnic 4uisines
Glectronic /echanical
Suits' resses Turbans' 2obes' 4ostumes
The %(otic and the %veryday Com!ared
>9#89%#
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity 11
The erotic comes in different forms but generally it involves some
combination of that which is strange to us' distant in time and place
from us' and traditional rather than modern' as these phenomena apply
to such things as landscape' architecture' dress' food' language' and
cuisines.
I should have added se*ual partners to this list. There are' in fact' many
different 0inds of international tourism' such as se*ual tourism' gourmet
tourism' adventure tourism and cultural tourism. Tourism is' I should point
out' the largest industry in the world.
Boorstin attac0s tourism' as practiced by Americans' as being a
pernicious 0ind of activity filled with what he calls pseudo-events. Americans'
he says' e*pect to have 1!$:# >% +a lifetime of adventure in two wee0s, and
believe that 1!$:#>% +the e*otic and the familiar can be made to order.., e
distinguishes between travelers good% and tourists bad% as follows.
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity 13
Boorstin points out that the word tourist is derived from the 7atin word tornos,
which means +circle', and sees the development of pac0age tours as basic to
the development of mass tourism.
I would suggest that Boorstin5s indictment of mass tourism is based on
an elitist point of view and is simplistic and inaccurate. The first edition of his
boo0 came out in 1!"1' when its subtitle was +
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity 18
Boorstin argues that American tourists do not li0e the authentic because they
are incapable of appreciating or understanding it' preferring' instead'
imitations' such as &rench singers singing in Gnglish with a &rench accent
rather than singing in &rench. In Fapan' tourists search not for what is
Fapanese but which is +Fapanesey., American and all% tourists are suc0ers' it
is argued' for that which is fa0e' inauthentic' but more easily digested.
Boorstin5s condemnation of American tourism and I would suggest
tourism in general% goes as follows 1!$"#1>$%#
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity 19
to e*plore the way other cultures organi6e life in a search for finding a way to
enrich our lives by adapting what we can.
Another idea connected with this aspect of postmodern thought'
7yotard suggests' involves the matter of eclecticism. As he writes 1!9#$"%
Gclecticism is the degree 6ero of contemporary general culture# one
listens to reggae' watches a western' eats /conald5s food for lunch
and local cuisine for dinner' wears Paris perfume in To0yo and +retro,
clothes in ong Kong( 0nowledge is a matter for TL games. It is easy
to find a public for eclectic wor0s. By becoming 0itsch' art panders to
the confusions which reigns in the +taste, of patrons. Artists' gallery
owners' critics and the public wallow together in the +anything goes',
and the epoch is one of slac0ening.
7yotard describing a culture in which tourism has shaped our lifestyles.
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity 1:
There is one other aspect of postmodern thought that is of importance
and that involves Baudrillard5s theory of simulations and hyperreality. As he
writes in Simulations 1!8#19%#
It is reality itself that is hyperrealist. Surrealism5s secret was that the
most banal reality could become surreal' but only in certain privileged
moments that are still nevertheless connected with art and the
imaginary. Today it is Duotidian reality in its entirety;political'
social' historical and economic;that from now on incorporates the
simulating dimension of hyperrealism.
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity 1"
Modernity Postmodernity
authenticity amusement
natural artificial
reality hyperreality
Postmodern thought is' we have seen' not terribly interested in authenticity
since it posits a world based on simulations. The implication of this
perspective is that authenticity is no longer a ma@or concern of tourists in
postmodern societies;nor is the natural or +reality', whatever it may be.
Sociologist Eing >>#::%#
Implied in the approaches of postmodernism is @ustification
of the contrived' the copy' and the imitation. ?ne of the most
interesting responses to this postmodern cultural condition is 4ohen5s
recent @ustification of contrived attractions in tourism. According to
him' postmodern tourists have become less concerned with the
authenticity of the original…Two reasons can be identified. &irst' if
the cultural sanction of the modern tourist has been the +Duest for
authenticity', then that of the postmodernist tourist is a +playful search
for en@oyment, or an +aesthetic en@oyment of surfaces., Secondly' the
postmodern tourist becomes more sensitive to the impact of tourism
upon fragile host communities or tourist sights. Staged authenticity
thus helps pro@ect a fragile toured culture and community from
disturbance by acting as a substitute for the original and 0eeping
tourists away from it.
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity 1$
8%#
Tourist attractions serve their purpose best when they are pseudo-
events. To be repeatable at will they must be factitious. Gmphasis on
the artificial comes from the ruthless truthfulness of tourist agents.
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity 1
world of simulations and hyperrealities' the term +authenticity, doesn5t have
much meaning.
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity 1!
These four groups are based on whether group boundaries are wea0 or
strong and whether there are many or few rules and prescriptions that have to
be followed. The chart that follows is based on her descriptions of each of
these lifestyles.
1. Individualist
competitive' wide-flung' open networ0' sporty' arty' ris0y styles of
entertainment' freedom to change commitments
3. +ierarchical
adhere to established traditions' established institutions
defined networ0 of old friends' formal
8. %galitarian
re@ects formality' pomp' authoritarian institutions
prefers simplicity' fran0ness' intimate friendships
9. Isolates also 0nown as atalists%
withdrawn' unpredictable lifestyles' alienated
These four lifestyles are all in conflict with one another' ouglas argues' and it
these lifestyles' the cultural alignments that people ma0e' which are basic in
determining their consumer choices. As she writes 1!!$#38% +cultural
alignment is the strongest predictor of preferences in a wide variety of fields.,
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity 3>
She concludes her article with a passage that is very similar to what
Saussure said about concepts. She writes 1!!$#8>%#
Shopping is agonistic' a struggle to define not #hat one is, but #hat
one is not.
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity 31
I used aniel F. Boorstin5s The Image to deal with the way that
tourism can be considered a postmodern activity as well as a semiotic one.
Boorstin5s discussion of authenticity and so-called +pseudo-events, provided a
means to consider postmodernist attitudes toward tourism' which re@ect
authenticity as important and focus' instead' on being amused and entertained.
Postmodernism re@ects the notion of authenticity as important and the
modernist distinctions between elite culture and popular culture' originals and
fa0es' and various other ideas associated with modernism. It is Fean
Baudrillard5s ideas on simulations and hyperreality that e*plain the attitudes
and desires of postmodern tourists.
I also dealt with the relationship between postmodernism and consumer
cultures in discussing the ideas of the British social anthropologist /ary
ouglas' who argues that there are four lifestyles or consumer cultures found
in modern societies' each of which is in conflict with all the others. 4ultural
alignments' she argues' not individual psychology' shape our preferences when
it comes to consumption and shopping;and by implication our tourism;is a
means of differentiating ourselves from the other cultures.
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity 33
use' we find him feeling e*cited and having typical tourist e*periences of not
being able to do things that are not problematic in America. e discusses his
difficulties in buying a loaf of bread in a ba0ery in which' after much
confusion' he finally is able to purchase the bread.
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity 38
travel to escape from our everyday lives' which are based on familiarity and
recurrences.
There is a 0ind of @oyousness and high spirited feeling found in
ottdiener5s description of his e*perience at the Bra6ilian ba0ery' and as he
tells the story' the woman who sold him the bread was +beaming, when he
finally figured out how to buy it. And then' shortly after buying the bread'
ottdiener tells us +I was bac0 in my room drin0ing coffee and eating the very
nice' freshly ba0ed bread., is adventure in the ba0ery is similar in nature to
the adventures innumerable tourists have all over the world' who venture out of
their hotel rooms or short-stay apartment rentals to find a nice ba0ery and
whose triumphs and disappointments add 6est and e*citement to their lives.
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity 39
Bibliography
Barthes' 2oland. 1!3.
%m!ire of Signs.
Eew Oor0# ill
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity 3:
Consumer Culture Postmodernism.
7ondon# Sage Publications.
ottdiener' /ar0. 1!!:.
Postmodern Semiotics Material Culture and the orms of Postmodern Life.
7ondon# Blac0well.
ottdiener' /ar0. 1!!$.
The Theming of )merica Dreams, -isions and Commercial S!aces.
Boulder' 4?#
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity 3"
?*ford' Gngland# Pergamon.
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity 3$
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Arthur Asa Berger Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity 3