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Call for Papers
Journeys of Expression III: Tourism and Festivals as
Transnational Practice
3rd annual CTCC Tourism & Festival Research Conference
Innsbruck, Austria, 5-7 May 2004
Journeys of Expression III: Tourism and Festivals as
Transnational Practice is a small three day academic
conference being held in Innsbruck, Austria from 5 to
7 May 2004. It is being co-organised by the Centre for
Tourism and Cultural Change at Sheffield Hallam
University (United Kingdom) and the Institute for
European Ethnology and Folklore at Innsbruck
University. The aim of the conference is to present
and discuss a selection of case studies and
theoretical approaches focusing on the relation
between tourism and festivals in the context of the
contemporary world(s).
Since at least 12,000 BC, humans have been creating
symbolic 'models' to explain their existence and their
relations to the world; models to articulate and make
meaningful the contradictive conditions of our loving,
longing, suffering, hating, communicating, exchanging
and 'passing by'. These models are usually expressed
and mediated through various forms of narration,
aesthetic production and the festive enactment of
legends and myths during moments of social
concentration. Since the early 19th century, social
scientists and philosophers have been interested in
the links between these festively created forms of the
poetic, aesthetic and artistic, and the social
organisation of groups and societies. Such forms and
practices have also long provided focal points for
tourists; travellers of times and spaces that are
seeking experiences, narrations and intercultural
participation that make personal and collective worlds
meaningful.
Within this context, this conference aims to discuss
academic meanings of the relation between tourism and
festivals in a transnational context. Why do tourists
go to festivals? How do they participate? What do they
experience and through which forms of symbolic or
semiotic frameworks do they make this experience
meaningful? Do festivals become social nodes of a
transnational culture, of a 'global village'? What is
the meaning of the economic and symbolic exchange
processes involved? Are there meta-narratives, and
what is their ideological grounding, and their vision
of the world?
The conference welcomes case studies and theoretical
explorations that address such questions. Themes for
the conference include:
· tourism and festivals as transnational social
phenomena;
· tourism as a global geographical extension of ritual
processes;
· heritage, culture and nature as sacred spaces;
· festivals as transnational relations and exchange
systems;
· cultural festivals as international institutions,
utopias and doctrines;
· festivals as expressions of power;
· tourist participation in 'cultural' festivals and
the communication of experience;
· the challenge of internationalisation to cultural
values and organisation patterns.
We welcome critical contestations and discussions of
such themes and would particularly appreciate papers
that are based on research data. Please send a 250
word abstract to Dr David Picard ([log in to unmask]).
The deadline to submit abstracts is the 5th of March
2004. Given the short notice, we will be accepting
abstracts earlier to provide participants with more
time.
Conference convenors: Mike Robinson, David Picard,
Oliver Haid
Centre for Tourism & Cultural Change
Sheffield Hallam University
Howard Street - Owen Building
Sheffield S1 1WB
United Kingdom
Phone +44 (0) 114 225 3973
Fax +44 (0) 114 225 3343
Email [log in to unmask]
Website www.tourism-culture.com
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