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Authenticity and Status in an Age of Globalization: Travel Television and the Touristic Imaginary
(2014) Ahn, Paul; Nadkarni, Maya
In this thesis, I will examine representations of tourism on four popular contemporary television shows-An Idiot Abroad, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, and Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern- as a means to better understand the touristic imaginary, especially as it relates to anthropological issues of authenticity, status, and globalization. Importantly, all four shows extensively feature forms of anti-tourism, or tourism that avoids common destinations, activities, and attitudes in favor of ones that are "off the beaten path." Not surprisingly, the rise in popularity of travel shows featuring anti-tourism mirrors the rise in popularity of alternative forms of tourism in general as more and more tourists become aware of the social and environmental costs of their activities (Stronza 2001 :274). In their own eyes, anti-tourists are "travelers" rather than tourists as a result of their desire for more than a tan and souvenir. As I hope will become clear, however, anti-tourism, regardless of whatever negative costs of tourism it might mitigate, serves the function of reinforcing class distinctions. Anti-touristic discourses posit a difference between tourists and "travelers" on moral or intellectual grounds, while effacing the different social possibilities available to different individuals.