1 AAB Tourism as a Postmodern Semiotic Activity

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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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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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/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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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