In 1869 Mark Twain published a travel book with a splendid title « The Innocents Abroad ».
The book humorously chronicles the vicissitude and the experiences of a group of American travellers through Europe.
We might consider here also the stereotypes of mass tourism, with package trips which show tourists what they expect to see, instead of the reality of the countries they visit.
I think that sometimes, people tend to make a little confusion between theme parks and many famous touristic destinations, where clichés overwhelm the essence of a foreign culture and appear more real than reality.
We have to cope with triumphs of kitsch like the people who play the role of Roman centurions, performing all dressed up in a little improbable costumes by the Colosseum, the world-famous Flavian Amphitheatre in Rome, to get some money from tourists in exchange of a photo in their company. The principle is the same of the
theme-parks where people ( unluckily not only children) get photos of themselves in company of embarrassing big puppets inspired to the characters of cartoons, but the Colosseum is not an attraction of a theme park, it’s an historical monument.
The book humorously chronicles the vicissitude and the experiences of a group of American travellers through Europe.
We might consider here also the stereotypes of mass tourism, with package trips which show tourists what they expect to see, instead of the reality of the countries they visit.
I think that sometimes, people tend to make a little confusion between theme parks and many famous touristic destinations, where clichés overwhelm the essence of a foreign culture and appear more real than reality.
We have to cope with triumphs of kitsch like the people who play the role of Roman centurions, performing all dressed up in a little improbable costumes by the Colosseum, the world-famous Flavian Amphitheatre in Rome, to get some money from tourists in exchange of a photo in their company. The principle is the same of the
theme-parks where people ( unluckily not only children) get photos of themselves in company of embarrassing big puppets inspired to the characters of cartoons, but the Colosseum is not an attraction of a theme park, it’s an historical monument.
It’s all this disturbing superficial confusion which makes me think
over and wonder what mass tourism really allow people to perceive in an enriching way from what they see.
Another flagrant example is Venice and the gondola rides with singing gondoliers.
Innocents abroad (they might be from every country, of course) identify the romantic Venice with its gondolas, without realizing that Venetians never take any ride on any gondola and they are just for tourists. Well, actually there is only a specific use of gondola in the daily life of Venice inhabitants; it’s a kind of ferry for pedestrians, to cross the Grand Canal from shore to shore, in points far from the few bridges. It takes only few minutes and the service is cheap, people stand up on a kind of gondola all together, just for the time to arrive on the other side.
But gondolas for tourists offer a totally different service, a long ride along small canals for happy couples who feel deeply Venetians doing that.
over and wonder what mass tourism really allow people to perceive in an enriching way from what they see.
Another flagrant example is Venice and the gondola rides with singing gondoliers.
Innocents abroad (they might be from every country, of course) identify the romantic Venice with its gondolas, without realizing that Venetians never take any ride on any gondola and they are just for tourists. Well, actually there is only a specific use of gondola in the daily life of Venice inhabitants; it’s a kind of ferry for pedestrians, to cross the Grand Canal from shore to shore, in points far from the few bridges. It takes only few minutes and the service is cheap, people stand up on a kind of gondola all together, just for the time to arrive on the other side.
But gondolas for tourists offer a totally different service, a long ride along small canals for happy couples who feel deeply Venetians doing that.
Often the gondolier entertains the customers singing, because
“Venice is so romantic and Italians always sing and play mandolin”.
Clichés, we live so often on clichés that we miss the scent of reality…
The singing gondoliers in most of cases intone popular…Neapolitan songs. They give tourists what they expect, many Neapolitan songs are well-knows also abroad, who knows instead real Venetian folklore?
At the end everybody is happy in this eternal illusion…
“Venice is so romantic and Italians always sing and play mandolin”.
Clichés, we live so often on clichés that we miss the scent of reality…
The singing gondoliers in most of cases intone popular…Neapolitan songs. They give tourists what they expect, many Neapolitan songs are well-knows also abroad, who knows instead real Venetian folklore?
At the end everybody is happy in this eternal illusion…
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