I am pleased to announce our international  research conference  on  "Tourism & Literature: Travel, Imagination & Myth"  which will take
place from  22 to 26 July 2004 in Harrogate, UK.  TOURISM & LITERATURE is the second conference in a series initiated with TOURISM &
PHOTOGRAPHY last July when more than 120 delegates from 21 countries with academic backgrounds in sociology, anthropology, history,
geography, arts and tourism studies met in Sheffield, UK. The overall aim of this conference series is a critical approach to the
relationship between the touristic construction and experience of the world, and the challenge this represents for the social, spatial,
economic, aesthetic and political organisation patterns and symbolic elements of social existence. This raises fundamental anthropological,
sociological, political, economic, geographical and cognitive-psychological issues related to the way we communicate and exchange in the
contemporary world, and how this has historically developed.

This second academic event emphasises on literature which, through both texts and authors, has long been an inspiration for tourists. Travel
and tourist experiences have, in turn, long inspired literature. This inter-relationship between tourist, tourism and literature will be at
the heart of this international conference. How does literature construct tourist histories and identities? How do tourists 'read' fictional
texts?  How does literature produce, prescribe and legitimate spaces for tourists?  How are tourist expectations and experiences mediated by
literature?  What is the significance of imagined worlds, fantastic landscapes and mythic characters for tourism?  Why do some authors hold
a fascination for tourists?  Who are literary pilgrims and what experiences do they have?

The conference seeks to explore and deepen our understanding of tourism and literature relations by bringing together an international
audience of academics, curators, writers, professionals and tourism managers to discuss this increasingly important field. The conference
will be multi-disciplinary drawing from literary criticism, history, linguistics, sociology, anthropology, cultural and political geography,
etc. I am personally interested in developing the discussion on 'perception' and 'cognition' that I feel needs to be further introduced in
the field of tourism research and would welcome abstracts from neuro-scientists, philosophers, linguists, aestheticians and psycho-analysts.
> From a social anthropological perspective, I would like to continue the critical debate on the meaning of tourism as an international
phenomena - a hypothetic form of 'sacrality' of the contemporary worlds - which a number of younger researchers refreshed through
ethnographic approaches of tourists presented in last July's event. From a political economy and geography perspective, I think our last
conference permitted a very fruitful discussion on the 'imagery' of places as a way to create familiarity, to 'know' the world through
conventionalised compositions, an argument which bears important conceptual and political implications.

I would be pleased if you could circulate this information widely and include it on your website. A second call for papers  has been sent
out recently and we have still a number of speaker timeslots available. Please send your abstract of no more than 300 words with full
address details as an electronic file to Dr. David Picard ([log in to unmask] ) as soon as possible but by March 1st 2004 at the latest.

Please find more information on our website www.tourism-culture.com


Thank you in advance.
With best regards,

Frederick Revaz
Executive Producer


Conference Convenors: Mike Robinson, David Picard, William Culver-Dodds

Centre for Tourism & Cultural Change
Sheffield Hallam University
Howard Street - Owen Building
Sheffield, SW1 1WB
United Kingdom