The 2007 Iranian 'hostage crisis' : an Orientalist captivity narrative

Concerned with the deployment of discourses within the representing culture and not principally with that which it seeks to portray. These accounts, in terms of their mediation by the newspapers concerned as well as their anticipated reception by a British readership, would be denuded of much of the urgency of their meaning without the availability of deeply embedded discourses that we can group under the umbrella of Orientalism

Repackaging orientalism : discourses on Egypt and Turkey in British outbound tourism

This article analyses representations of Egypt and Turkey in brochures produced by tour operators for the British outbound packaged tourism market. It suggests that two specific 'phases' of Orientalist discourse are deployed in promotional materials on the two destinations. Turkey reiterates the discursive division of western 'reason and modernity' from eastern 'stasis and passivity' while Egypt re-enacts the material intervention of Europeans to generate and articulate particular kinds of knowledge about the Orient. It suggests that it is not simply the material existence of the destinations, but the occupation of specific historically contingent positions of 'sovereign subjectivity' from which to 'know' them that is offered to tourists

Orientalism redeployed : art as cultural self-critique and self-representation

This paper looks at special exhibitions and galleries holdings of "Western" Orientalist art of the 19th and early 20th centuries. This was art produced for the "West" in the early stages of its imperialist interest in the Middle East and our project focuses on the conditions under which this art emerged. Taking as our theoretical context the legacy of Edward W. Said’s study, Orientalism, we initially focussed our attention upon nationally legitimated UK museums’ presentation of cultural objects produced in the Middle East to a ‘Western’ audience (see Bryce and Carnegie 2013). Drawing on, for example, recent exhibitions in the UK (Bellini and the East. National Gallery 2006, The Lure of the East: British Orientalist painting. Tate Britain. 2008), and the USA (The Spectacular Art of Jean-Léon Gérôme, Getty) our study now explores the recent reappraisal of this body of art in western galleries as means of self-critique amidst "post 9/11" discourses. We additionally, examine the recent interest in, acquisition of, and display of Orientalist art in Turkish and Middle Eastern collections as a powerful statement of agency and a means to observe the self through the gaze of the Western "other." Our research question is, to what extent are these twin deployments of this problematic genre of art part of a wider, potentially unifying discursive formation

Selling heritage in the post-Ottoman Balkans : in, but not of Europe

Normalising subjectivities of ‘Europeanness’ and ‘Westernness’ have effects on the interpretation and consumption of cultural heritage sites in non-Western contexts. Here we examine the liminal space of the ‘post-Ottoman’ West Balkans, a European region with a significant built heritage and contemporary social legacy reflecting the c.500 year rule of the Muslim Ottoman dynasty where large numbers of people converted voluntarily to Islam but in which a syncretic system for the legal toleration and recognition of Christianity and Judaism was also implemented. Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH), Republic of Macedonia (Macedonia) and Albania are selected for contextual study in the West Balkans given that their social complexion is perhaps most obviously a representation of that syncretic legacy and because of their concentration of extant Ottoman heritage sites presentenced to the market. We note first that these countries’ heritage and tourism sectors anticipate and to some extent modify their interpretation to accommodate ‘Western’ consumers affectation of ‘surprise’ and ‘delight’ at the region’s religious diversity, constructing it in binary terms as a ‘remarkable’ crossroads between ‘West/East’ or ‘Christendom/Islam’. We then note occasional counter-discursive interventions by heritage practitioners to offer consumers an interpretive framework in which the syncretic legacy of the Ottoman period is an unremarkable consequence of contingent regional history. To understand why Ottoman heritage is often understood to be in but not of Europe, our analysis brings together and develops recent ‘Post-Saidian’ scholarship which interrogates ‘Europe’s’ discursive erasure of its Ottoman-Islamic-Oriental ‘self’ as well as recent work on the particularities of the syncretic Ottoman mode of social organisation in Europe and its legacy

Connecting with the past : meeting the needs of ancestral tourists in Scotland

An ancestral legacy is often viewed as the epitome of heritage tourism (McCain, 2003) and can generate the feelings of personal attachment craved by many tourists (Timothy and Boyd, 2006). Ancestral tourism supports individuals who, despite an existing identity in one country, feel a connection to another ‘homeland’ (Palmer, 1999). McCain and Ray (2003) suggest that tourism associated with personal legacy offers an experience with functional, social, emotional and epistemic value dimensions (Williams & Soutar, 2009). However, there is scant research which considers the added value that ancestral tourism can provide to a destination despite the range of benefits that may be accrued by communities which meet the needs of ancestral tourists (Timothy, 1997). Scotland, a nation which maintains and projects powerful brand signifiers of its cultural heritage (McCrone, Morris and Kiely, 1995) is also a country which witnessed considerable emigration between the 18th and 20th century. Although much emigration was voluntary and motivated by a search for economic opportunity, it is the enforced clearing of Scots as part of an economic restructuring that generates particularly evocative images. By 1914 more than 2 million Scots had emigrated, mainly to the British Dominions of Canada, Australia and New Zealand.  An estimated 800,000 visitors a year are estimated to come to Scotland with ancestral motivations but a global Scottish diaspora (which could number between 40 and 80 million) is estimated to be worth several billion pounds to the Scottish economy over the next decade. We sought to explore how the needs of ancestral tourists are met through a qualitative study involving 28 in-depth interviews with curators and tourism professionals and non-participant observation at a range of heritage and genealogical attractions across the whole of Scotland.   Our research reveals a spectrum of ancestral tourists from roots tourists who appear to be satisfied with putting their ‘feet on the ground’ where their ancestors lived; to genealogy tourists who often visit with an obsession for ‘generation bagging’ and gaining detailed documentary insight into their ancestral past.  We contribute to heritage tourism studies by revealing how extensive and well preserved archives, local knowledge and a passion for family history can serve to generate unique and deeply emotional tourism experiences for ancestral tourists. Despite the often ‘cottage industry’ nature of many ancestral attractions (often reliant on volunteers and local ‘good will) the outcome of the visit can often be greater satisfaction and a strong repeat visitation pattern

Delivering integrated and customised service experiences within a heterogeneous cultural organisation

This investigation explores challenges in providing integrated and customised services across a heterogeneous cultural organisation. It contributes to contemporary research which increasingly looks at service experience in a number of contexts including public services (McColl-Kennedy, Janet R. Gustafsson et al., 2015), and emphasises the complexity of customer journeys (Lemon & Verhoef, 2016). This study also aligns with research that considers the heterogeneity of cultural consumption (Marschall, 2014; McCamley & Gilmore, 2017) and tourists’ experiences of intangible and tangible elements across a range of sites, some with connections of individual resonance (Poria & Ashworth, 2009; Poria, Butler, & Airey, 2004)

Delivering the past : providing personalized ancestral tourism experiences

Heritage tourism is increasingly viewed as an individual and experiential phenomenon as well as being related to specific attributes of a destination. Ancestral tourism fits the former perspective and centers on tourists travelling to sites which they perceive to be a ‘homeland’ where, during the visit, they attempt to discover more about their own heritage. This study explores ancestral tourism from a provider perspective focusing on the delivery of tourist experiences and relationships between tourists and the place visited. The research is based on a qualitative study of tourist and non-tourist specific providers across Scotland with data collected using in-depth interviews. This study reveals a phenomenon which delivers deeply personal experiences to visitors and where encounters involve intense, often lengthy, interactions between visitors and providers. Ancestral tourism experiences are also often centered on tourism provision within local communities which can present challenges to both provider and tourist alike

Role conflict and changing heritage practice : ancestral tourism in Scotland

Developing mutually beneficial outcomes in service encounters can be challenging due to resource asymmetry within co-created experiences. Such encounters can result in role conflict for service providers. Limited attention has been paid to the effect on service providers of highly collaborative exchanges which require specific customisation. An example of this is ancestral tourism, a dimension of heritage consumption, in which visitors actively participate in the co-creation of experience at museums, archives and related heritage sites. These institutions, previously seen as repositories of historical information, now act as conduits for visitors to investigate their ancestral past. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between changing professional discourse in the cultural heritage sector, specifically ancestral tourism, and role conflict amongst staff. Through interviews conducted with professionals, the extent and outcomes of role conflict in complex and collaborative exchanges is explored

High culture, heritage and the new 'capitals' of the Islamic world

Cities reveal how the state imagines itself or how it aspires to be visualised. This paper draws upon four separate field visits between 2010 and 2013 to Doha, Qatar; Dubai and Abu Dhabi, UAE and Muscat, Oman. It examines institutions in the religious and public sphere, heritage sector and the retail and dining sectors to argue that these cities augment their hypermodernity and economic success with very visible symbols of Islamic high culture. By drawing on the full historical and geographical panoply of the material cultural achievements of Islam, these states stake a claim to parity with the great Islamic cities of the past but also recognise the diversity of their own Muslim, largely expatriate, populations. These cities emerged relatively recently in historical terms when compared with the centres of Islamic high culture on whose influence they draw, such as Cairo, Istanbul, Isfahan, Agra and Samarkand and the opulence with which Muslim dynasties, such as the Mamluks, Ottomans, Safavids, Timurids and Mughals endowed them. It must be recalled that all of the cities examined in this paper are ruled by near-absolute monarchies with ample financial resources to announce their cultural credentials with few institutional or financial impediments. It is argued that similar motivations to announce cultural presence by drawing in and constructing the visually arresting are evident. Therefore, what we see is not so much a new flowering of Islamic culture as much as a newfound confidence in its lavish expression

Valuation of Child Behavioral Problems from the Perspective of US Adults

To assess preferences between child behavioral problems and estimate their value on a quality-adjusted life year (QALYs) scale