Travels in Paradox: Remapping Tourism - Tapa dura

This book marks the coming-of-age of new narratives of tourism, travel, and place. Each chapter is a vital part of a whole that presents an exciting new field of research and a set of compelling insights into the pressing problems that the paradoxes of travel have generated.--Nigel Thrift, Oxford University

This innovative volume focuses on tourism through the twin lenses of cultural theory and cultural geography. Presenting a set of innovative case studies on tourist places around the world, the contributors explore the paradoxes of the tourist experience and the implications of these paradoxes for our broader understanding of the problems of modernity and identity. Rather than offering yet another interpretation of the ways modern societies are distinguished by their mobilities-in contrast to the supposed place-bound quality of traditional societies - the chapters here collectively argue for an understanding of modern identity as simultaneously grounded and mobile. This rich blend of empirical and theoretical analysis will be invaluable for cultural geographers, anthropologists, and sociologists of tourism.