Stage fright and romanticism in Il Giro del Mondo

Francesco Cerchiaro and Dick Houtman

Annals of Tourism Research, 2021, vol. 89, issue C

Abstract: This paper addresses the local cultural consequences of the tourist quest for authenticity through an ethnographic study of an ancient Christianized pagan spring ritual in Northern Italy. Rather than embracing its Christian features, tourists and local inhabitants alike define its meaning in romanticist terms. This informs “stage fright” at both ends, i.e., concerns that it may degenerate into a staged folklore show. Defining the event as celebrating their community and its ancient ties to the land, local inhabitants even dismiss tourist attendance altogether. Contradicting theories of culture loss, cultural tourism here moreover strengthens rather than weakens local culture and identity, albeit not by accommodating the tourist quest for authenticity, as theories of cultural sustenance suggest, but in opposition to it.

Keywords: Cultural tourism; Pilgrimage; Romanticism; Staged authenticity; Host communities; Italy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:anture:v:89:y:2021:i:c:s0160738321000736

DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2021.103201

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