Tourists and/as disasters

Rebuilding, remembering, and responsibility in New Orleans

Bibliographic Data

ID12697494
AuthorsPhaedra C Pezzullo (0000-0002-5766-7776, Indiana University Bloomington, corresponding author)
Year2009
Volume9
Issue1
Pages23-41
Publication date2009-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueTourist Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1468-7976 • E-ISSN: 1741-3206
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1468797609360591
OpenAlexW2136261098
LanguageEN
Citations received23
References cited35

Although some have begun to study the relationships between national disasters and commercial tourism, practices of touring in the aftermath of disasters warrant closer examination. Marita Sturken argues tourists of disaster provide a metaphor for US contemporary culture, epitomizing an attitude that is superficial, distanced, and uncritical. To identify the hopeful possibilities that we can recuperate from literal practices of touring disaster, I turn to the US city of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina made landfall in 2005 to explore the uses of tours as: first responses, lobbying tools, field reports, organizing tactics, and publicity. To contextualize these acts, I engage public discourses of ‘‘Katrina fatigue’’ and the politics of remembering as it relates to post-Katrina tours. From secondary research and participant observation, I then illustrate how non-commercial and commercial tourist practices after a disaster can offer compelling opportunities for rebuilding, more sustainable memories, and political critique

Aesthetics · Geography · Hurricane katrina · Media studies · Metaphor · Natural disaster · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Publicity · Sociology · Tourism · Disaster Management and Resilience · Diverse Aspects of Tourism Research · History · Law · Public Relations and Crisis Communication

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub