How tourists perceive two island destinations with identical culture, but different demographic characteristics, through social networking sites?: the case of Madeira and Bermuda

This thesis is focused and aimed at exploring how tourists perceive two island destinations with identical culture, but different demographic characteristics, through Social Networking Sites. The islands of Madeira and Bermuda were chosen as the ones to be studied. In order to provide a trustful answer, it was conducted two different methodologies that complete each other: Netnography and Text Mining. Eight codings were used when creating the database, based on the literature studied: Rating, Categories, Membership Level of reviewers, Language type, Tourism Experience Model, Content, Symbology and Positive/Negative information. In the first methodology, all of these codings were studied, while in the Text Mining one, only three were considered: TEM, ML and categories. The database was created after an extensive extraction process, which included in the end 1783 reviews – 1148 from Madeira and 635 from Bermuda, extracted from the TripAdvisor platform regarding August of 2017. The results indicate an overall positive customer satisfaction regarding both islands, but slightly superior in the Madeira’s case. The reviewers were, globally, low ranked reviewers and their favorite type of language was literal (vs figurative). The negative content was similar in both cases and the positive one as well. Based on the literature it was perceived that the reviews extracted are capable of persuading readers, and increase their booking intention. Also, both islands were perceived as destinations where tourists are able, through Recreational Activities, to get closer with their existential being. Lifestyle and Leisure and Tourism, Travel and Commuting were the main themes found to being mentioned by the reviewers. It was perceived that reviewers from Madeira can highly influence potential tourists into becoming real ones, in comparison with Bermuda. In both cases, reviewers were found to be engaged with the destinations, and the “re-purchase” scenario is highly probableO objectivo desta tese é explorar de que forma o turista percebe dois destinos insulares com cultura idêntica, mas características demográficas distintas, através das Redes Sociais. Para o efeito, as ilhas da Madeira e da Bermuda foram escolhidas para ser objecto de estudo. Para obter uma resposta fidedigna foram estabelecidas duas metodologias diferentes, com vista a complementarem-se: Netnografia e Mineração de Dados. Com base na literatura estudada, foram utilizados oito critérios aquando a criação da base de dados: Classificação, Categorias, Nível dos utilizadores, Tipo de linguagem, Tourism Experience Model, Conteúdo, Simbologia e Informações Positivas/Negativas. Na primeira metodologia, todas os critérios foram utilizados, enquanto na segunda foram considerados apenas três: TEM, Nível dos utilizadores e Categorias. A base de dados foi criada após um longo processo de extracção, que culminou no final com 1783 avaliações – 1148 referentes à Madeira e 635 relativos à Bermuda, retiradas da plataforma TripAdvisor, referentes a Agosto de 2017. Os resultados indicam uma satisfação geral positiva dos utilizadores em relação a ambas as ilhas, mas ligeiramente superior no caso da Madeira. Estes eram, globalmente, caracterizados com baixo nível de membership, e predomina a linguagem literal (vs figurativa). A quantidade de conteúdo negativo é similar em ambos os casos, bem como a informação positiva. Com base na literatura, foi concluído que as avaliações extraídas são capazes de persuadir os leitores e aumentar as suas intenções de reserva para com os destinos estudados. Além disso, ambas as ilhas foram percebidas como destinos onde os turistas podem, por meio de Atividades Recreacionais, aproximar-se do seu ser existencial. "Lifestyle and Leisure" e "Tourism, Travel and Commuting" foram os principais temas de conversa mencionados pelos utlizadores. Foi concluído também que as avaliações extraídas da Madeira têm maior capacidade para tornar potenciais turistas, em turistas reais do destino (comparativamente à Bermuda). Em ambos os casos, verificou-se engagement positivo, e o cenário de "recompra" é altamente possível

The Cultural Memory Of German Victimhood In Post-1990 Popular German Literature And Television

My dissertation analyzes the representation of Germans as victims of the Third Reich and the Second World War in post-1990 German memory. After unification, there no longer were two states that could each blame the other as the heir of National Socialism and this past had to be renegotiated. The claim that many Germans had been victims became central as evidenced by the vast number of popular literature, commercial cinema and television programs of this subject. I argue with Wulf Kansteiner (2006) that to understand collective memory, we should explore mass media representations. As the majority of highbrow artifacts do not reach the general public, only interpretations of the past that become part of the mainstream media influence historical consciousness. My discussion therefore analyzes both popular literature and television as well as their official and vernacular reception. After contextualizing the dissertation in the increasingly expansive discourse of cultural memory, and briefly tracing the discursive history of West German cultural memory since 1945, the core of the dissertation explores the cultural memory of Germans as victims embodied in and disseminated through post-unification popular cultural artifacts. I explore the representation of German women as rape victims in Anonyma\u27s Eine Frau in Berlin (2003), its 2008 German film adaptation and its reception. Secondly, I analyze Bernhard Schlink\u27s bestselling novel Der Vorleser (1995) and its 2009 American film, which exculpate a former concentration camp guard on the dubious grounds that her illiteracy made her morally illiterate. The textual and film analysis are likewise extended to the analysis of the reception. In the last chapter, I analyze the made-for-TV movie Dresden (2006), which constitutes Germany\u27s first feature film about the British fire bombing of Dresden, and its reception. The dissertation examines how each artifact transforms Germans from bystanders, followers and even perpetrators into victims. Since the artifacts themselves only contain the potential to shape historical consciousness, which needs to be actualized in the reception process, I primarily explore how these media products are interpreted in newspaper reviews and teaching materials (official reception) as well as in online postings of readers and viewers (vernacular reception)

Researching Literary Tourism

This book approaches literary tourism initially from an historical perspective in order to define the phenomenon through a review of the existing academic literature in the field. The forms of literary tourism are analysed to provide a typology and ..

The Role of Literary Texts in Tourism Destination Management, Place Creation and Marketing: A Case Study on Concarneau in Finistère, Brittany, and the Simenon Novel, The Yellow Dog

This doctoral thesis approaches literary tourism initially from an historical perspective in order to define the phenomenon through a review of the existing academic literature in the field. The forms of literary tourism are analysed to provide a typology and from this the value of literary tourism is explained both from the visitor's point of view and the destination manager's. Current theories underpinning the existing literature on literary tourism, including Bourdieu's concept of cultural capital are reviewed. To extend the current state of research and to answer the research questions a case study of successful urban literary tourism is identified, in this case in Brittany, France. The uses of French literature in literary tourism are reviewed to provide a sound basis on which to examine French texts and tourist destinations. Novel methods of field research are developed to formalise and to make reproducible the methodology for this study and for future work drawing on, and seeking to combine both literary theory and ethnography. Following a pilot study on the French Riviera the full discovery instruments are designed and applied in fieldwork on the case destination, Concarneau, using the detective novel, The Yellow Dog, which is set in Concarneau. Analysis of the findings from this provide a new contribution to the field of literary theory, in the area of reader interpellation, and answer the research questions in the form of a new set of recommendations for DMOs and tourism stakeholders. From the empirical study that used Web 2.0 social media, only available since 2013, an analysis of which novels do stimulate literary tourism is presented for the first time. Out of the research process new methods have been evolved, and are presented in the conclusion, for the DMO to synthesise and leverage digital resources. This provides DMOs with interpretation processes for its managed heritage to use with its local stakeholders in hotels and in tourism businesses. Finally, an innovative conceptualisation of what constitutes tourism knowledge is proposed

The heat of Tennessee Williams' South on the Viennese stages

Meine Diplomarbeit beschäftigt sich mit dem Thema Kulturtransfer sowie mit den kulturellen Konsequenzen, die derartige Transferprozesse bedingen können. Anhand von Tennessee Williams’ Glasmenagerie untersuche ich die (variierende) Rezeptionsbereitschaft bzw. -verweigerung der Österreicher im Hinblick auf „typisch Amerikanisches“, wie es sich aus den Theaterkritiken aus nahezu sechs Jahrzehnten ableiten lässt. Der erste Teil meiner Arbeit diskutiert die Aufführungstradition des Stückes am Broadway, während der zweite Teil eine Untersuchung der österreichischen Rezeption auf den Wiener Bühnen darstellt. Im abschließenden dritten Teil werden die Resultate aus den beiden vorangegangenen Teilen zusammengeführt und miteinander verglichen. Das theoretische Rahmengerüst bilden Hans-Jürgen Lüsebrinks Theorie über Kulturtransfer sowie Joseph Roachs Prämisse über die Korrelation von Performanz und kollektivem Gedächtnis. Von zentralem Interesse ist daher nicht nur das Übermitteln der andersartigen Kultur, d.h. der Kulturtransfer, sondern auch die Selektivität, die den Rezeptionsprozess auszeichnet. Wie sich anhand der österreichischen Reaktionen zeigt, werden besonders jene Elemente in die eigene Kultur integriert, die sich im Sinne des nationalen kollektiven Gedächtnisses interpretieren bzw. übersetzen (umformulieren) lassen. Hingegen wird Amerikanisches, das sich nicht in einen österreichischen Kontext einbinden lässt, entweder ignoriert, indem der Fokus auf die „allgemeingültigen“ Aspekte gerichtet wird, oder schlichtweg abgelehnt. Diese Entscheidung (verallgemeinern oder ablehnen) wurde durch die Jahrzehnte hindurch hauptsächlich von der starken Wechselwirkung zwischen Kultur und Politik geprägt. Es zeigt sich, dass fremdartige (Amerikanische) Konzepte besonders dann abgelehnt wurden, wenn Österreich sich auf politischer Ebene bewusst gegen die Außenwelt (Amerika) abgrenzte und bestrebt war, seinen Nationalstolz vehement zu verteidigen. In derartigen Situationen wurde Die Glasmenagerie zum Vehikel für latenten, aber auch offenkundigen Antiamerikanismus instrumentalisiert, und man grenzte sich bewußt ab gegen den Amerikaner Tennessee Williams, den Klischee-Amerikaner Jim O’Connor, die nervende Südstaaten-Mutter Amanda Wingfield oder das gesamte Stück. Während in Österreich das Stück tendenziell mit starkem Bezug zum Zeitgeschehen interpretiert wurde, und die kritischen Reaktionen stark von der jeweiligen sozialen Befindlichkeit abhingen, konnte bei den Amerikanischen Produktionen nur bedingt ein Nexus mit dem Zeitgeist hergestellt werden. Anders als in Österreich wagten sich in Amerika nur wenige Rezensenten, Die Glasmenagerie nachteilig zu kritisieren. Das Stück, durch das Tennessee Williams 1944 zu einem der bedeutendsten Amerikanischen Schriftsteller avancierte, genoss in Amerika einen unantastbaren Status. Die stetige Regelmäßigkeit, in der es am Broadway wiederaufgeführt wurde, nämlich einmal pro Dekade, gibt Aufschluß über die unverminderte Beliebtheit des Autors, selbst nach seinem Ableben. Die Glasmenagerie bildet zweifelsohne einen essentiellen Teil des Amerikanischen Literaturbewusstseins. Die Broadway-Wiederaufführungen erfüllen daher heute eine Erinnerungsfunktion, und lassen Tennessee Williams auch nach seinem Tod gewissermaßen weiterleben, indem seine vergangene Größe immer wieder ins (Amerikanische kollektive) Gedächtnis gerufen wird