COMMODITIZATION OP INDIGENOUS CULTURES
THROUGH TOURISM
by
RITVA KARAJAOJA
.A., The U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h Columbia, 1991
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©Ritva K a r a j a o j a ,
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Abstract
T h i s essay looks a t c u l t u r a l commoditization by
people
i n T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s
i n response
indigenous
t o t o u r i s m . The
common assumption i s t h a t commoditization i n v a l i d a t e s
c u l t u r e and t h a t i t somehow becomes i n a u t h e n t i c .
a
I show t h a t
even though the Indians of the Peruvian h i g h l a n d s s e l l
•Indianess*
for tourists
their
to photograph, the r e a l
commoditization takes p l a c e by mestizos who a p p r o p r i a t e I n d i a n
culture: t h e i r dress,
r i t u a l s , handicrafts.
The I n d i a n s and
m e s t i z o s are both t r y i n g t o maximize t h e i r share of t o u r i s m
revenue,
little
of which a c t u a l l y gets to the
N e i t h e r c u l t u r e , however,
highlands.
becomes i n a u t h e n t i c i n the
process.
While the meanings of c u l t u r a l products may be a l t e r e d
time,
no c u l t u r e i s s t a t i c
over
and f i x e d i n time: new meanings
r e l e v a n t w i t h i n the context of contemporary s o c i e t y .
Key words: c u l t u r a l commoditization, a u t h e n t i c i t y ,
tourism,
Peru.
ethnic
are
iii
Table of Contents
Abstract
i i
T a b l e of Contents
L i s t of F i g u r e s
..............iii
iv
Acknowledgements
v
.
1
SECTION I
Introduction
Definitions
'
H i s t o r y o f T r a v e l , E v o l u t i o n of Tourism
The Growth o f Mass Tourism
Tourism as an A n t h r o p o l o g i c a l Subject
Some T h e o r i e s on T r a v e l M o t i v a t i o n
1
2
6
7
9
12
SECTION I I
.16
The D i s c o u r s e o f A d v e r t i s i n g
I n t e r n a t i o n a l T r a v e l Brochures
Amish T r a v e l Brochures
T h i r d World T r a v e l Brochures
Ramifications of A d v e r t i s i n g Discourse
16
17
18
20
22
SECTION 111
25
Peru as a T o u r i s t D e s t i n a t i o n
The Tourism Complex Around Cuzco
and the Highlands
T o u r i s t i c Encounters and Commoditizations
25
....30
.33
SECTION IV
46
C u l t u r a l Commoditization: A Case Study
T r a n s f o r m a t i o n s and C o n c l u s i o n s
46
49
Literature Cited
53
iv
L i s t of
Figures
1.
Photograph 1 . . . M e s t i z o
boy and condor
2.
Photograph 2 . . . Indian f a m i l y begging at t o u r i s t
3.
Photograph 3 . . . Indian with llamas and h y d r o f o i l
4.
Photograph 4 . . . U r o s
Indian v i l l a g e
on Lake
34
site
...36
38
Titicaca.....39
Acknow1edgements
Most of a l l , I wish t o thank my Mother, L y y d i K a r a j a o j a , who
throughout her i l l n e s s encouraged me t o continue when she
needed me more.
I thank D r . Robin R i d i n g t o n f o r making my undergraduate
i n t r o d u c t o r y c l a s s i n anthropology so s t i m u l a t i n g and
c h a l l e n g i n g t h a t I knew I would not become a b i o l o g i s t .
I thank D r . E l v i W h i t t a k e r , my i n s p i r a t i o n f o r p u r s u i n g
t o u r i s m as a t o p i c . I p a r t i c u l a r l y want t o thank my a d v i s o r ,
Dr. Ken S t o d d a r t , f o r h i s wise c o u n s e l , k i n d n e s s ,
and e x t r a o r d i n a r y p a t i e n c e .
My h e a r t - f e l t thanks t o t h a t wonderful f a c i l i t a t o r ,
f o u n t a i n of knowledge, Margaret B a s k e t t e .
F i n a l l y , I wish t o thank my f i a n c e , Peter C. Newman,
s e t t i n g a work e t h i c which I found n e a r l y i m p o s s i b l e
emulate and f o r h i s l o v i n g encouragement throughout.
that
for
to
SECTION I
introduction
When t o u r i s m i s the s t i m u l u s f o r some s o c i e t i e s t o commoditize
a s p e c t s of t h e i r c u l t u r e i n order t o get a share of t o u r i s m
revenues,
the common assumption i s t h a t the c u l t u r e , or the
p r o d u c t s of t h a t c u l t u r e , have somehow become i n a u t h e n t i c .
I
am g o i n g t o show t h a t commoditization and i n a u t h e n t i c i t y do
not n e c e s s a r i l y go hand i n hand. Another assumption i s
that
t o u r i s m causes the n a t i v e s e l f
tourist
self
remains u n a f f e c t e d .
tourism,
t o be changed w h i l e the
I w i l l show t h a t i n c e r t a i n types
s p e c i f i c a l l y ethnic tourism, i t
the t o u r i s t s e l f
is also possible
of
for
t o change.
I have d i v i d e d t h i s essay i n t o four s e c t i o n s .
First,
I am
g o i n g t o d e f i n e some of the terms I w i l l be u s i n g , then I
s h a l l move onto the t o p i c of t o u r i s m : how i t e v o l v e d , why
anthropology should be a t the f o r e f r o n t of t o u r i s m s t u d i e s ,
and
then look a t some t h e o r i e s r e g a r d i n g t r a v e l m o t i v a t i o n .
Next I w i l l examine the d i s c o u r s e of t o u r i s m a d v e r t i s i n g and
show how the a d v e r t i s i n g focus d i f f e r s between c o u n t r i e s which
have been l a b e l l e d developed and under-developed. I w i l l
show
t h a t developed c o u n t r i e s are a b l e t o c o n t r o l the d i s c o u r s e of
a d v e r t i s i n g w h i l e the under-developed c o u n t r i e s w i t h h i g h
indigenous p o p u l a t i o n s l a c k t h i s power. I n . t h e t h i r d
section,
I w i l l d i s c u s s Peru as a t o u r i s t d e s t i n a t i o n and the
tourist
complex around Cuzco. I w i l l use photographs t o show how some
'
1 •
•• '
. 2
indigenous people are t r y i n g to get a share of t o u r i s m '
revenue;
I w i l l a l s o d i s c u s s other forms of c o m m o d i t i z a t i o n
which a r e necessary to b r i n g i n t o u r i s t s and generate
tourism
spending f o r much needed revenue t o the a r e a . In the f o u r t h
and f i n a l
section,
I w i l l d i s c u s s commoditization and p r e s e n t
a t i m e - d e p t h case study as evidence t h a t c u l t u r e s adapt and
c r e a t e new meanings t h a t are r e l e v a n t w i t h i n the c o n t e x t
t h e i r current society.
Contrary t o popular b e l i e f ,
show t h a t i n e t h n i c t o u r i s m , i t
self
t o experience
is possible
of
I will
f o r the
also
tourist
change.
Definitions
>
D e f i n i t i o n s are mental c o n s t r u c t s formulated a c c o r d i n g t o
the
d i s c i p l i n a r y parameters of a g i v e n f i e l d of study and, as
yet,
t h e r e i s no shared consensus of meaning w i t h i n the v a r i o u s
disciplines
i n which t o u r i s m i s a f a c t o r .
definitions
of t o u r i s t s
anthropologists,
economists,
I have looked a t
(and tourism) put f o r t h by
sociologists,
geographers,
psychologists,
and others who study t o u r i s m , but as John Lea
(1988:4) p o i n t s out,
even the word t o u r i s m " . . . i s capable of
d i v e r s e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n w i t h one survey of e i g h t y
studies finding forty-three definitions
traveller,
tourist,
f o r the
different
terms
and v i s i t o r . "
,
While a l l of the v a r i o u s d e f i n i t i o n s have been h e l p f u l i n
i l l u m i n a t i n g the d i v e r s e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s and a s p e c t s of
3
tourists
and t o u r i s m , I have found the d e f i n i t i o n a l
typologies
put f o r t h by E r i k Cohen (1972:167-8) and Valene Smith
(1989:12) t o be best s u i t e d f o r t h i s a n t h r o p o l o g i c a l e n q u i r y .
within the
These are the two most o f t e n c i t e d t y p o l o g i e s
literature,
as w e l l .
organized t o u r i s t s ,
of t o u r i s t s ,
Cohen i d e n t i f i e s
four types of
i n d i v i d u a l mass t o u r i s t s ,
tourists:
explorer types
and d r i f t e r s . The f i r s t two types are
institutionalized tourists,
whereas,
the l a t t e r two make t h e i r
own arrangements and t r a v e l on t h e i r own. Cohen d e s c r i b e s
t y p o l o g y as being " . . . b a s e d on the extent of the
tourist's
exposure t o the strangeness of the host environment as
h i s s e c l u s i o n w i t h i n the
his
against
'environmental bubble' of h i s home
environment t h a t i s s u p p l i e d by the t o u r i s t
establishment"
(1984:378) .
S m i t h ' s t y p o l o g y i s based on the numbers of t o u r i s t s
t h e i r a d a p t a t i o n t o l o c a l norms. Smith i d e n t i f i e s
t o u r i s t categories:
i n c i p i e n t mass,
explorer,
mass,
elite,
off-beat,
and c h a r t e r . The f i r s t
and
seven
unusual,
four types
correspond t o Cohen's n o n i n s t i t u t i o n a l i z e d e x p l o r e r and
d r i f t e r categories.
These t o u r i s t s
are low i n number and can
adapt t o the l o c a l norms of the r e c e i v i n g s o c i e t y . The
remaining t h r e e ,
i n c i p i e n t mass, mass,
and c h a r t e r correspond
w i t h Cohen's i n s t i t u t i o n a l i z e d c a t e g o r i e s of i n d i v i d u a l mass
and o r g a n i z e d t o u r i s t s .
These t o u r i s t s
numbers and expect western a m e n i t i e s .
a r r i v e i n greater
The two t y p o l o g i e s
are
4
b a s i c a l l y the same,
founded on the t o u r i s t s '
u n f a m i l i a r and perhaps even f r i g h t e n i n g
reactions
to
circumstances.
The t y p e s of t o u r i s m which the v a r i o u s types of
tourists
engage i n i s d i v i d e d i n t o f i v e
c a t e g o r i e s by
self-explanatory
Smith (1989:4-6): e t h n i c t o u r i s m , c u l t u r a l t o u r i s m , h i s t o r i c a l
tourism,
environmental t o u r i s m , and r e c r e a t i o n a l t o u r i s m .
P i e r r e L . van den Berghe e x p l a i n s t h a t i n e t h n i c t o u r i s m the
natives
are the p r i m a r y ,
or at l e a s t s i g n i f i c a n t ,
" . . . a n i n t e g r a l p a r t of the e x o t i c s p e c t a c l e "
attraction
(1980:377). The
p u r e s t form of e t h n i c t o u r i s m , a c c o r d i n g t o van den Berghe,
ethnographic t o u r i s m i n which the primary purpose i s
observe the behaviour and a r t i f a c t s
(Ibid.:378).
of e x o t i c
peoples"
are more i n t e r e s t e d
n a t i v e r u i n s and h a n d i c r a f t s than i n the n a t i v e s
in
themselves
The boundaries of these c a t e g o r i e s are o v e r - l a p p i n g
and a s i t u a t i o n a l a n a l y s i s of a t o u r i s t i c experience
often
"...to
Van den Berghe a s s e r t s t h a t c u l t u r a l t o u r i s m i s a
sub-form of e t h n i c t o u r i s m : t o u r i s t s
(Ibid.).
is
will
i n d i c a t e t h a t the t o u r i s t has engaged i n s e v e r a l
of t o u r i s m
simultaneously.
The q u e s t i o n of what i s t o u r i s m continues
t o be a l i v e l y
of debate w i t h i n a n t h r o p o l o g i c a l and s o c i o l o g i c a l
Among the many d e f i n i t i o n s
(1978:149)
types
succinctly
point
circles.
of t o u r i s m , Dennison Nash
(and l o g i c a l l y )
states that tourism
the " . . . c u l t u r e of l e i s u r e d t r a v e l e r s " .
is
I f i n d t h i s t o be an
5
acceptable
t o say,
d e f i n i t i o n f o r the purposes of t h i s p a p e r .
Needless
t h e r e i s an ongoing debate about who i s a t o u r i s t
w i t h i n the l i t e r a t u r e as w e l l . My f a v o u r i t e o b s e r v a t i o n i s by
David W i l s o n i n the Comments to Dennison Nash's 1981
•Tourism as an A n t h r o p o l o g i c a l S u b j e c t ' .
definitions
are needed only i f t h e r e i s
about meaning,
"...it
Wilson s t a t e s
l i k e l y t o be
that
confusion
i s the t o u r i s t h i m s e l f who s h o u l d s u r e l y
be the a r b i t r a t o r of such d i s p u t e s .
a tourist..."
article
He knows i f he i s or
isn't
(1981:477).
The words t o u r i s t and t o u r i s m suggest ' t o u r i n g ' . Not a l l
people who go on a v a c a t i o n
' t o u r ' . Many go t o l a n g u i s h on a
sunny beach and never venture beyond the c o n f i n e s
beach even i f
it
For t h i s r e a s o n ,
interesting
is situated
of h o t e l and
i n some f o r e i g n e x o t i c c o u n t r y .
I t h i n k , van den Berghe has drawn an
d i s t i n c t i o n between v a c a t i o n e r s
s t a t i n g t h a t " . . . t h e best s u b j e c t i v e
and t o u r i s t s ,
c r i t e r i o n of whether
i s v a c a t i o n i n g or being a t o u r i s t i s whether one f i n d s
natives
one
the
q u a i n t enough to take t h e i r p i c t u r e " —the more
t o u r i s t i c the t r i p ,
l o c a l people
the g r e a t e r the number of photographs of
(1980:376).
S i n c e the main theme of t h i s paper i s commoditization of
indigenous c u l t u r e s
i n T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s ,
the k i n d of
t o u r i s m I w i l l be examining i s e t h n i c t o u r i s m (as per Smith
and van den Berghe)
and the type of t o u r i s m i s
i n d i v i d u a l mass
6
t o u r i s m or i n c i p i e n t mass t o u r i s m (as per Cohen and S m i t h ) .
The t i t l e —commoditization of indigenous
World c o u n t r i e s —
tourists
presupposes
cultures
that a s u f f i c i e n t
in Third
number of
are a r r i v i n g and t h a t indigenous people are a d a p t i n g
t h e i r c u l t u r e i n order t o enhance t h e i r a b i l i t y t o cash i n on
tourist
revenue.
Commoditization i s e s s e n t i a l l y
'commercialization',
f o r a more d e t a i l e d e x p l a n a t i o n ,
I w i l l use E r i c
however,
Cohen's
definition:
'Commoditization' i s a process by which t h i n g s (and
a c t i v i t i e s ) come to be evaluated p r i m a r i l y i n terms of
t h e i r exchange v a l u e , i n a context of t r a d e , thereby
becoming goods (and s e r v i c e s ) (1988:381).
Some of the a l t e r n a t e
countries
are under-developed,
developed country)
my s o u r c e s .
local,
concept
terms I w i l l be u s i n g f o r T h i r d World
l e s s developed,
and LDC ( l e s s
due to the v a r i a t i o n i n t e r m i n o l o g y used by
A l s o , I w i l l use indigenous,
native,
Indian,
host,
and ' O t h e r ' , a c c o r d i n g to the context i n which the
i s used,
and a g a i n ,
a c c o r d i n g to how my sources are
u s i n g the term.
H i s t o r y of T r a v e l ,
E v o l u t i o n of Tourism
Throughout h i s t o r y people have t r a v e l l e d .
Athenians,
and A l e x a n d r i a n s had r e s o r t s
t r a v e l t o escape the s t i f l i n g
(Wolfe 1967). L a t e r ,
Wealthy Romans,
to which they c o u l d
summer heat of t h e i r
cities
the Roman Empire, which s t r e t c h e d
from
7
H a d r i a n ' s W a l l t o the Euphrates, made i t p o s s i b l e
for
adventurous Romans to t r a v e l from one end to the o t h e r ,
P h i l i p L . Pearce p o i n t s out,
"...needing
two languages f o r the whole t r i p "
and as
o n l y one c u r r e n c y and
(1982:54), In the M i d d l e
Ages, the p i l g r i m a g e became an important motive f o r t r a v e l ,
and over t i m e ,
a n c i l l a r y s e r v i c e s evolved which can be
compared t o our c u r r e n t h o s p i t a l i t y
seventeenth c e n t u r y ,
the
i n d u s t r y . In the
'Grand Tour' evolved as a s o r t
of
f i n i s h i n g s c h o o l f o r the sons of E n g l i s h a r i s t o c r a c y ,
however,
a f t e r the Napoleonic Wars and the advent of r a i l w a y s ,
other,
newly a f f l u e n t
people were able t o s t a r t going abroad as
In the n i n e t e e n t h
affluence,
well.
c e n t u r y , with t h i s new m o b i l i t y and new
people began t o go abroad t o spas and r e s o r t s
in
England and i n Europe. Pearce s t a t e s t h a t " . . . t r a v e l and
t o u r i s m became a s s o c i a t e d
and r e l a x a t i o n "
(Ibid.).
w i t h h e a l t h and, i n t u r n ,
with
rest
T h i s concept remains w i t h us s t i l l
the form of annual p a i d v a c a t i o n s
from which employees
supposedly r e t u r n renewed and r e f r e s h e d ,
ready y e t a g a i n
to
put i n another year of work.
The advent of mass t o u r i s m can be l i n k e d to an E n g l i s h
e n t r e p r e n e u r named Thomas Cook who both o r g a n i z e d and
s u p e r v i s e d t o u r i s t groups going abroad i n the
nineteenth
c e n t u r y . Cook made t r a v e l a c c e s s i b l e t o l a r g e numbers of
people and h i s legacy continues
i n the t r a v e l a g e n c i e s which
in
8
still
c a r r y h i s name.
The Growth o f Mass Tourism
A f t e r the F i r s t World War, m o b i l i t y was f u r t h e r enhanced by
ocean i i n e r s and automobiles but i t was not u n t i l a f t e r
the
Second World War t h a t i n t e r n a t i o n a l t o u r i s m began t o o c c u r
en masse. Economic p r o s p e r i t y f o r those i n the developed w o r l d
f o l l o w e d on the h e e l s of the Second World War; moreover,
war had been the i n c e n t i v e
f o r tremendous advancements
a r e a of a i r t r a v e l . I t had now become p o s s i b l e
the
i n the
f o r a massive
number of people t o go much f u r t h e r , much more q u i c k l y , than
ever
before.
The growth of the t r a v e l i n d u s t r y has been n o t h i n g s h o r t of
phenomenal.
"In 1990,
a c c o r d i n g to the World Tourism
O r g a n i z a t i o n of the U n i t e d N a t i o n s ,
people...travelled
(cited
429 m i l l i o n
from one country t o another as
tourists"
i n Barnet and Cavanagh 1994:29). T h i s makes the mass
tourist
i n d u s t r y the w o r l d ' s l a r g e s t
s t o c k of l o d g i n g , r e s t a u r a n t ,
employer.
and t r a n s p o r t a t i o n f a c i l i t i e s
e s t i m a t e d t o be worth about $3 t r i l l i o n ,
fifteen
"The g l o b a l
and one out of
is
every
workers a c r o s s the p l a n e t spends the day t r a n s p o r t i n g ,
feeding,
housing, herding, cosseting,
or amusing t o u r i s t s "
(Ibid.).
A f t e r food and housing, t r a v e l l i n g i s the
.
third
l a r g e s t household expense i n the developed world and a c c o r d i n g
t o Barnet and Cavanagh, $232 b i l l i o n were spent on t o u r i s m i n
9
1990
(Ibid.).
Tourism As An A n t h r o p o l o g i c a l
Subject
I t has taken a g r e a t number of years f o r the
academic
community t o view t o u r i s m as a v a l i d s u b j e c t
of
a n t h r o p o l o g i c a l e n q u i r y . John J . Bodine (1981:469) s t a t e s
that
the f i r s t o r g a n i z e d symposium was h e l d i n Milwaukee i n 1964 by
the C e n t r a l S t a t e s A n t h r o p o l o g i c a l S o c i e t y .
The f i r s t
p u b l i s h e d a n t h r o p o l o g i c a l paper on t o u r i s m i s a c c r e d i t e d t o
Theron Nunez
Why,
(1963).
i f people have been t r a v e l l i n g abroad and a t home f o r
many y e a r s ,
has t h e r e been a l a c k of r e s e a r c h i n t e r e s t
i n the
f i e l d of tourism? Pearce claims t h a t i t has t o do w i t h the
P r o t e s t a n t work e t h i c which emphasizes the s p i r i t u a l v a l u e of
hard work: p l a y and l e i s u r e are t h e r e f o r e not v a l u e d as
activities
worthy of study. Another p l a u s i b l e reason f o r
d e a r t h of r e s e a r c h c o u l d be due t o the l a c k of
academic p o s i t i o n s
i n the f i e l d
recognized
(Pearce 1982:1-2); perhaps
Claude L e v i - S t r a u s s has c o n t r i b u t e d to t h i s
off
the
lacuna by s t a r t i n g
h i s famous book T r i s t e Tropique with " T r a v e l and t r a v e l e r s
are two t h i n g s I l o a t h e - and yet here I am, a l l set
the s t o r y of my e x p e d i t i o n s "
to
tell
(1968:17). Moreover,. L e v i - S t r a u s s
c l a i m s the o n l y reason he had not w r i t t e n the book sooner was
because he had been " . . . h e l d back by a s o r t of shame and
disgust"
(Ibid.).
These words, from one of the
foremost
10
a n t h r o p o l o g i s t s of our time, do not encourage the study of
t o u r i s m w i t h i n the d i s c i p l i n e .
All
of the above reasons are c e r t a i n l y v a l i d ,
as i s
the
f o l l o w i n g o b s e r v a t i o n by Toby A l i c e Volkman (1990:91) who
states:
i
A n t h r o p o l o g i s t s have not q u i t e decided what t o do w i t h
t o u r i s m when i t appears on ' t h e i r ' t u r f . I t seems t o be a
b l i g h t upon the l o c a l c u l t u r e as w e l l as an i n t r u s i o n
upon (and a t h r e a t to) the a n t h r o p o l o g i s t ' s own
p r i v i l e g e d domain. As a phenomenon i t i s e a s i l y
d i s d a i n e d , mocked, even condemned; as a s u b j e c t of
inquiry i t is easily t r i v i a l i z e d .
Pearce echoes t h i s c l a i m s t a t i n g t h a t f i e l d r e s e a r c h e r s of a l l
types,
including anthropologists,
have t r i e d t o i g n o r e the
presence of t o u r i s t s and the impacts of t o u r i s m because
are
an annoying reminder t h a t most of the w o r l d ,
remote,
i s now a c c e s s i b l e
the garden p l o t ,
they
however
t o the modern world — " L i k e weeds i n
t o u r i s t s s p o i l the c h a r a c t e r of
the
r e s e a r c h e r ' s c a r e f u l l y c u l t i v a t e d community" (1982:1). Malcolm
C r i c k asks i f the reason f o r the l a c k of a n t h r o p o l o g i c a l study
might be due t o the f a c t t h a t t r a d i t i o n a l l y a n t h r o p o l o g i s t s
have s t u d i e d
'them' and not
'us'
(1989:311). T h i s would seem
t o i n d i c a t e t h a t t o u r i s t s are not e x o t i c enough t o m e r i t
s e r i o u s a n t h r o p o l o g i c a l e n q u i r y . Even i f t h a t were the
case,
the many d i f f e r e n t impacts of t o u r i s m which a f f e c t
lives
of
the
the
' O t h e r ' c e r t a i n l y n e c e s s i t a t e s a g r e a t d e a l of
research.
11
D e s p i t e the concerns v o i c e d by the academics,
the decade of
the 1980s has seen s e r i o u s a t t e n t i o n p a i d t o t o u r i s m s t u d i e s
by a wide range of d i s c i p l i n e s
Anthropology,
geography,
sociology,
business
leisure studies,
(Pearce 1988:17-18).
p o l i t i c a l science,
studies,
social
psychology,
environmental, r e c r e a t i o n a l and
plus others,
phenomenon i n t h e i r c u r r i c u l a .
are a d d r e s s i n g t h i s
global
J a f a r i and Aasen (1988:410-13)
have examined the data r e g a r d i n g the number of d o c t o r a l
degrees granted i n the U n i t e d S t a t e s and Canada
dissertations
based upon
devoted to the study of t o u r i s m . Geography and
economics produced a few d i s s e r t a t i o n s
A n t h r o p o l o g y , however,
but i t
1
d i d not
as e a r l y as the
1950s.
'discover' tourism u n t i l
1973
i s the d i s c i p l i n e which has shown the g r e a t e s t irate of
growth w i t h a t o t a l of 25 d i s s e r t a t i o n s
t o 1986,
f o r which complete f i g u r e s were a v a i l a b l e .
the l a s t
2
James L e t t (1989:275) s t a t e s t h a t "Modern t o u r i s m accounts
the s i n g l e
l a r g e s t p e a c e f u l movement of people a c r o s s
boundaries i n the h i s t o r y of the w o r l d . "
year
Clearly,
cultural
this
reason enough f o r s e r i o u s academic enquiry i n t o every
for
is
aspect
• ^ n l y 3 d o c t o r a l degrees were granted i n Canada. A l l were
i n Geography from the U n i v e r s i t y of Western O n t a r i o .
Between 1951 and 1987 (not a l l 1987 e n t r i e s were
a v a i l a b l e ) t h e r e were a t o t a l of 157 d i s s e r t a t i o n s . Economics
i s the l e a d e r w i t h 40, Anthropology next w i t h 25, Geography
24, R e c r e a t i o n 23, Business A d m i n i s t r a t i o n 11, E d u c a t i o n 9,
S o c i o l o g y 7, Urban-Regional P l a n n i n g 7, P o l i t i c a l S c i e n c e 5,
and the remaining 6 i n F i n e A r t s , S o c i a l Work, Theology,
H i s t o r y , Mass Communications, and P u b l i c R e l a t i o n s .
2
12
of
tourism.
Some T h e o r i e s on T r a v e l M o t i v a t i o n
There are many reasons f o r t r a v e l l i n g . There i s no need
l e a s t w i t h i n the context of t h i s paper)
(at
t o d i s c u s s those who
go abroad t o h e a l t h spas or those who take c h a r t e r f l i g h t s
the p l e a s u r e p e r i p h e r y
tanned,
3
to spend time on the beach,
i s t h a t t o T h i r d World
c o u n t r i e s w i t h h i g h indigenous p o p u l a t i o n s ,
4
get
or j u s t have some ' f u n ' .
The type of t o u r i s m I wish to address
Peru.
to
specifically
Although the indigenous p o p u l a t i o n i s v e r y h i g h ,
have v e r y l i t t l e
power p o l i t i c a l l y ; g e n e r a l l y ,
they
they are a l s o
v e r y poor i n comparison to the r e s t of the p o p u l a t i o n . The
tourists
who t r a v e l t o Peru and other c o u n t r i e s
are p r i m a r i l y i n t e r e s t e d
people themselves,
i n the c u l t u r e of the
in their artifacts,
of e a r l i e r c i v i l i z a t i o n s .
such as these
indigenous
and i n the e x t a n t r u i n s
I t i s t o t h i s type of t o u r i s m t h a t
the t h e o r i e s best lend themselves.
L e a (1988:1) s t a t e s t h a t the p l e a s u r e p e r i p h e r y i s a
"band of host c o u n t r i e s s t r e t c h i n g from Mexico and the
Caribbean t o the Mediterranean; from East A f r i c a v i a the
I n d i a n Ocean and South-east A s i a to the P a c i f i c I s l a n d s ;
thence back t o Southern C a l i f o r n i a and M e x i c o . "
3
W h i l e t h e r e are many other c o u n t r i e s which f i t the
c r i t e r i o n , Peru i s the country i n which I have spent the most
amount of time and am most f a m i l i a r w i t h .
4
13
There are numerous t h e o r i e s
as t o why people t r a v e l : a r e t u r n
t o the womb, or a form of b i r t h or r e b i r t h
( D i c h t e r 1967) ; a
form of p i l g r i m a g e , a sacred journey (Graburn 1989) ; a r i t e of
passage from s o c i e t a s t o communitas (Turner and Turner 1978) ;
a need t o r e g a i n a sense of purpose (van den Berghe and Keyes
1984); an attempt to escape the a l i e n a t i o n of modern s o c i e t y
(MacCannell 1989), and so on.
Dean M a c C a n n e l l ' s seminal work, The T o u r i s t : A New Theory of
the L e i s u r e C l a s s (1976, 1989 2d.ed.)
r a i s e s the concept of
a u t h e n t i c i t y which, some twenty years a f t e r
published,
is
i t was
first
s t i l l debated and o f t e n c i t e d w i t h i n the
a n t h r o p o l o g i c a l and s o c i o l o g i c a l
work, MacCannell i n t e g r a t e s
of E r v i n g Goffman
l i t e r a t u r e . In t h i s landmark
and expounds upon the e a r l i e r work
(1959) which i s based on the n o t i o n of a
f r o n t - b a c k dichotomy ( f r o n t s t a g e
and b a c k s t a g e ) .
t h a t which i s presented to t o u r i s t s and t h e r e f o r e
Frontstage
is
inauthentic,
and backstage — t h a t which the t o u r i s t cannot u s u a l l y access—
the
authentic.
A c c o r d i n g t o MacCannell,
"The i n t e l l e c t u a l c r i t i q u e of
assumes the i n a u t h e n t i c i t y of everyday l i f e
world"
(1989:147); t h e r e f o r e ,
authenticity.
i n the modern
the t o u r i s t i c quest
is
for
I n a u t h e n t i c i t y i s the r e s u l t of a l i e n a t i o n which
i s the product of contemporary i n d u s t r i a l i z e d s o c i e t y .
then,
society
i s a post-modern phenomenon: i t
Tourism
i s an escape i n which
persons from t h i s a l i e n a t e d s o c i e t y
"Absolute Other" ( I b i d . : 5 ) ,
•authentic
1
go i n search of
thereby descending upon the
worlds of indigenous peoples whose l i v e s have not
y e t been a l t e r e d
(too d r a s t i c a l l y ) by the p r o c e s s e s of
m o d e r n i z a t i o n . MacCannell s t a t e s ,
"For moderns, r e a l i t y and
a u t h e n t i c i t y are thought to be elsewhere:
periods,
the
and other c u l t u r e s ,
i n purer,
i n other h i s t o r i c a l
simpler
lifestyles"
(Ibid.:3).
Clearly,
the quest f o r a u t h e n t i c i t y i s not a s u s t a i n a b l e
because c o n t a c t
i s t h a t which d e s t r o y s
it.
Most t o u r i s t s who
engage i n e t h n i c t o u r i s m are r e l a t i v e l y knowledgeable
the w o r l d and t h i s p r e c l u d e s a b e l i e f
one
about
i n the e x i s t e n c e of an
A b s o l u t e O t h e r ; r a t h e r , the quest f o r a u t h e n t i c i t y becomes a
quest f o r a u t h e n t i c
experiences.
Being an i n v e t e r a t e t r a v e l l e r ,
5
I have o f t e n thought about
reason why I t r a v e l —why I f e e l
the
a need to t r a v e l — and why I
have o f t e n chosen t o go to d e v e l o p i n g c o u n t r i e s .
Sometimes
when I have r e t u r n e d home I have sworn never t o go a g a i n
(as
i n the case of Peru) only to f i n d myself p l a n n i n g t o go y e t
again.
In a graduate seminar on t o u r i s m i n the s p r i n g of
1992,
Much has been w r i t t e n about the nature of a u t h e n t i c i t y .
I s h a l l not attempt t o expound on the l i t e r a t u r e h e r e . For the
purposes of t h i s paper, a u t h e n t i c i t y i s t h a t which the t o u r i s t
p e r c e i v e s as a u t h e n t i c , or f a l l s w i t h i n the realm of b e i n g
acceptably authentic.
5
15
q u i t e u n e x p e c t e d l y , my reasons became c l e a r . On a 3" x 5"
index c a r d I wrote the f o l l o w i n g :
I am o p e r a t i n g under the assumption t h a t w h i l e t o u r i s t s
are e x p e r i e n c i n g other c u l t u r e s e t i c a l l y , they are hoping
t o experience them e m i c a l l y . To be human i n c l u d e s the
need f o r meaningful i n t e r a c t i o n with ones f e l l o w human
b e i n g s , and most p a r t i c u l a r l y when these human beings may
be c u l t u r a l l y , r a c i a l l y , e t h n i c a l l y v e r y d i f f e r e n t .
There i s a need i n a l l of us t o be r e a s s u r e d t h a t i n d e e d ,
we humans are a l l b a s i c a l l y the same.
Dean MacCannell
(1989:10) supports my h y p o t h e s i s i n p a r t :
The t o u r i s t i c c r i t i q u e of t o u r i s m i s based on a d e s i r e t o
go beyond the other 'mere' t o u r i s t s t o a more profound
a p p r e c i a t i o n of s o c i e t y and c u l t u r e , and i t i s by no
means l i m i t e d t o i n t e l l e c t u a l statements. A l l t o u r i s t s
d e s i r e t h i s deeper involvement with s o c i e t y and c u l t u r e
t o some degree; i t i s a b a s i c component of t h e i r
motivation to t r a v e l .
In summary, many t h e o r i e s e x i s t as t o why people t r a v e l .
we are a l l i n d i v i d u a l s , we have i n d i v i d u a l motives
travelling.
I do b e l i e v e ,
experience,
for
though, t h a t those people who engage
i n e t h n i c t o u r i s m may have a s i m i l a r quest:
e x p e r i e n c e s which f u l f i l
Since
a quest t o a c c e s s
t h e i r concept of a u t h e n t i c i t y . From
I can a t t e s t t o the f a c t t h a t when t h i s quest
o c c a s i o n a l l y r e a l i z e d , the t o u r i s t i c experience t r u l y
is
becomes
extraordinary.
In the f o l l o w i n g s e c t i o n ,
I w i l l show how the language and
images of t o u r i s m a d v e r t i s i n g promise, but seldom f u l f i l ,
t o u r i s t i c quest f o r a u t h e n t i c i t y .
the
16
SECTION I I
The D i s c o u r s e of A d v e r t i s i n g
Travel destinations
can be c l a s s i f i e d
as commodities
because
they are b e i n g marketed l i k e other manufactured goods and
services.
In order t o s e l l these d e s t i n a t i o n s ,
the
travel
i n d u s t r y c r e a t e s c e r t a i n images through which they hope
a t t r a c t the maximum number of buyers. The b u y e r s ,
case,
in
to
this
are t o u r i s t s who purchase package t o u r s —complete
with
the imagery— marketed by the a d v e r t i s e r s .
The a d v e r t i s e r s may
be c o u n t r i e s ,
airline
p r o v i n c e s or s t a t e s ,
h o t e l s and r e s o r t s ,
cities,
t r a v e l agencies,
attractions,
companies,
and o t h e r s
who stand t o p r o f i t from the l u c r a t i v e mass t o u r i s m market.
this
section,
advertising:
I w i l l review three papers on t o u r i s m
(1)
Robert S. D i l l e y , a geographer,
i n t e r n a t i o n a l t r a v e l brochures i n g e n e r a l
sociologist,
(2)
compares
Roy C . Buck, a
analyzes the a d v e r t i s i n g brochures of the Amish
i n North America
(3)
special
interest
i n i n t e r n a t i o n a l t o u r i s m and
people,
looks s p e c i f i c a l l y
Robert A . B r i t t o n ,
h i s own d i s c i p l i n e ,
a geographer w i t h a
indigenous
a t the image of the T h i r d World i n
t o u r i s m m a r k e t i n g . Each author w r i t e s
content
from the p e r s p e c t i v e
y e t each paper has an a n t h r o p o l o g i c a l
c e n t r a l t o my hypothesis
for this
section:
a d v e r t i s i n g focus of t o u r i s t brochures d i f f e r s
the
between
c o u n t r i e s which have been l a b e l l e d as developed and u n d e r developed.
In
of
17
I n t e r n a t i o n a l T r a v e l Brochures
"There seems l i t t l e doubt t h a t f o r many people
tourist
brochures — o b t a i n e d from t r a v e l agencies or from o f f i c i a l
government t o u r i s t bureaux [ s i c ] — p l a y a major r o l e i n
forming t h e i r i m a g e s . . . "
( D i l l e y 1986:60). D i l l e y has examined
the i n t e r n a t i o n a l t o u r i s t brochures of twenty-one
countries
in
an attempt t o g a i n an understanding of the images c e r t a i n
c o u n t r i e s are t r y i n g t o p r o j e c t t o p r o s p e c t i v e North American
tourists.
D i l l e y has c l a s s i f i e d the photographic images and
grouped them i n t o the f o l l o w i n g c a t e g o r i e s :
services,
c o a s t a l landscapes,
h i s t o r y and a r t ,
landscapes,
l o c a l people,
entertainment,
attraction
f l o r a and fauna,
mountain l a n d s c a p e s ,
rural
r e c r e a t i o n a l p a r t i c i p a t i o n , reassurance
services,
and urban l a n d s c a p e s .
D i l l e y was not s p e c i f i c a l l y s e a r c h i n g f o r d i f f e r e n c e s
the a d v e r t i s i n g images of developed
developed
(Old World) and u n d e r -
( T h i r d World) c o u n t r i e s , however,
differences
between
certain
c l e a r l y emerged. H i s f i n d i n g s i n d i c a t e t h a t
t e n O l d World c o u n t r i e s he looked a t ,
the
eight presented h i s t o r y
and a r t as the p r i n c i p a l image and the remaining two had
h i s t o r y and a r t as a secondary image a f t e r mountain
l a n d s c a p e s ; c l e a r l y , these c o u n t r i e s are p r i m a r i l y u s i n g
c u l t u r a l themes t o a t t r a c t t o u r i s m . On the o t h e r hand,
the
i s l a n d s and c o u n t r i e s of A n t i g u a , Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda,
Cayman I s l a n d s ,
T r i n i d a d and Tobago a l l emphasize the f o u r
s's
18
—sun,
sea,
sand, and sex.
T h e i r primary themes f a l l
within
the c a t e g o r i e s of r e c r e a t i o n a l p a r t i c i p a t i o n and c o a s t a l
landscapes,
r e p l e t e w i t h the p r e r e q u i s i t e s e x u a l
through the u s u a l beach scene c l i c h e s .
The p o i n t . o f
comparison i s t h a t the imagery promoted by the
islands
intimations
this
Caribbean
(and Bermuda) i s devoid of any c u l t u r a l theme.
as i f t h e s e i s l a n d s have no a r t , no h i s t o r y ,
exist solely
tourists.
four s's
no c u l t u r e
is
—they
as p l e a s u r e playgrounds f o r North American
C o n v e r s e l y , none of the ten Old-WorId
emphasizes
It
the four s ' s ;
it
is,
however,
countries
a known f a c t t h a t
the
are a primary a t t r a c t i o n of both Spain and P o r t u g a l
\ and the remaining e i g h t c o u n t r i e s c e r t a i n l y o f f e r
of v a r i o u s r e c r e a t i o n a l o p p o r t u n i t i e s ,
an abundance
yet they choose
t o emphasize the c u l t u r a l aspects of t h e i r
instead
societies.
Amish T r a v e l Brochures
Roy C . Buck (1977) has looked at the t o u r i s t brochures of
'Amish Country'
constitute
i n L a n c a s t e r County, P e n n s y l v a n i a . The Amish
a d i s t i n c t community w i t h i n the developed w o r l d :
their history,
r e l i g i o n , economic c h o i c e s ,
and o t h e r
factors
have l e a d t o t h e i r continued s e p a r a t i o n from mainstream
society.
6
I must p o i n t out,
though, t h a t i t
have chosen t o keep t h e i r s o c i e t y separate
i s the Amish who
from t h a t of
developed world and i t has been t h i s penchant f o r
the
separation
D a v i d H a r r i s o n c a l l s the Pennsylvania Amish " i s l a n d s
' t r a d i t i o n ' i n an ocean of modernity" (1992:21).
6
of
19
t h a t has l e d them to be the o b j e c t s of t o u r i s t i c
curiosity.
Amish t o u r i s t brochures are put out by i n d i v i d u a l a t t r a c t i o n s
and can be found everywhere i n c l u d i n g i n the l a r g e urban
c e n t r e s of New York, P h i l a d e l p h i a , Washington, and B a l t i m o r e
which are r e l a t i v e l y c l o s e by. Buck s t a t e s t h a t
these
brochures are i n s t r u m e n t a l i n a t t r a c t i n g some t h r e e m i l l i o n
tourists
a year which are accommodated by a w e l l
system of a t t r a c t i o n s
and f a c i l i t i e s
a s p e c t s of Amish c u l t u r e — h i s t o r y ,
However, i t
i s only possible
through staged a t t r a c t i o n s
show),
developed
promoting d i f f e r e n t
r e l i g i o n , farm
life.
to see and experience
(museums and farms s e t
guided t o u r s t o the c o u n t r y s i d e ,
the
culture
up f o r
and f o r those who want
t o do i t on t h e i r own, maps l e a d i n g to these v e r y same
locations.
What i s remarkable i s how the Amish have adapted and come t o
terms w i t h the i n f l u x of mass t o u r i s m —they have manipulated
the t o u r i s t i c experience
away from t h e i r d a i l y l i v e s and
c o n t a i n e d i t w i t h i n a network of staged a c t i v i t i e s .
s t a t e s "Brochures are e s s e n t i a l l y
Buck
fraudulent i n t h e i r
t a u t o l o g i c a l messages of guaranteeing t h a t what i s
i s what w i l l be seen and experienced.
advertised
The t a u t o l o g i c a l
event
i s a c l o s e d c i r c l e . T o u r i s t s are caught up i n a w o r l d not of
t h e i r making and t h e i r only choice i s among the
staged t a u t o l o g i e s "
(Ibid.:206).
It
is,
in fact,
alternative
possible
to
20
v i s i t Amish Country f o r two or t h r e e days and not see
'real'
any
Amish a t a l l . Buck notes t h a t not a l l Amish are
by the commoditization of t h e i r c u l t u r e and the
i n a u t h e n t i c i t y of the
'authentic'
inherent
staged a t t r a c t i o n s ;
f o r the Amish community as a whole,
pleased
however,
the s o l u t i o n appears t o be
working w e l l .
T h i r d World T r a v e l Brochures
Robert A . B r i t t o n (1979) has s p e c i f i c a l l y
looked a t
the
imagery generated by the t o u r i s m i n d u s t r y i n promoting t r a v e l
t o T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s .
The a d v e r t i s i n g i s
intended
to
perform the same s o r t of f u n c t i o n on an i n t e r n a t i o n a l s c a l e
the brochures f o r the Amish Country at the r e g i o n a l l e v e l ,
the p l a y i n g f i e l d s
is
are not l e v e l .
yet
F i r s t of a l l , Amish Country
s i t u a t e d w i t h i n the developed w o r l d ; second,
importantly,
as
the Amish have had the power t o
and most
implement
s t r a t e g i e s which have enabled them to c o n t r o l mass t o u r i s m and
mitigate
its
e f f e c t s on t h e i r
society.
B r i t t o n contends t h a t the imagery put f o r t h by the t o u r i s m
i n d u s t r y i s d i s t o r t e d and t h e r e f o r e
impacts a d v e r s e l y on the
q u a l i t y of the t o u r i s t i c experience.
Britton states that
primary reason behind the u n t r u t h f u l n e s s
that i t
i s an attempt to overcompensate
p o v e r t y of the host c o u n t r y : t o u r i s t s
in advertising
f o r the
the
is
visible
are coming f o r a
v a c a t i o n and do not want t o be bothered by l o c a l problems.
21
Secondly,
governments are w e l l aware of the f a c t t h a t t r o p i c a l
locations
are t o a l a r g e extent i n t e r c h a n g e a b l e and
truthfulness
i n a d v e r t i s i n g j u s t might send the t o u r i s t s
competing l o c a t i o n .
to a
T h i s would be c a t a s t r o p h i c f o r those
c o u n t r i e s whose economies are p r e c a r i o u s l y dependent upon
tourism
revenues.
Britton identifies
numerous themes which run through the
a d v e r t i s e d images.
"One n e a r l y u b i q u i t o u s theme i s t h a t poor
c o u n t r i e s are not r e a l p l a c e s .
M y s t i f i c a t i o n masks r e a l i t y .
The e x o t i c i s a m p l i f i e d , u s u a l l y i n the d i r e c t i o n of Eden"
(1979:321). The language used to d e s c r i b e these p l a c e s
words such as f a n t a s y ,
paradise, unspoiled,
sensuous, and
untouched. The photographic images accompanying the
reinforce this
m i n i m i z a t i o n of foreignness
for instance,
and encourages
it
(Ibid.:322),
mention t h a t
too
"almost
or t h a t the s t a f f
of a
i s European t r a i n e d , and so on. The attempt
minimize f o r e i g n n e s s
(casinos,
the
i f the p l a c e i s p e r c e i v e d as
advertisements
everyone speaks E n g l i s h "
certain hotel
text
sense of u n r e a l i t y by o m i t t i n g scenes which are
urban and i n d u s t r i a l i n n a t u r e . Another theme i s
exotic;
include
precludes references
i s necessary
t o the l o c a l m i l i e u
emphasis on t o u r i s t i c p l a c e s
g o l f courses,
night clubs).
and
illustrations,
stage props"
r a t h e r than as r e a l people with r e a l
activities
B r i t t o n notes t h a t when
to d e p i c t l o c a l people i n the
"they l i k e l y appear as stereotyped
to
lives.
(Ibid.:323),
/
22
The r o m a n t i c i z a t i o n of the l o c a l p o p u l a t i o n w i t h i n the
of
its
stoic,
p o v e r t y —denoted by such d e s c r i p t i o n s as
cheerfully
n a t u r a l l y g r a c e f u l — i s yet another p e r v a d i n g theme
w i t h i n the a d v e r t i s i n g ,
of p o s s i b l e
sexual
context
sexual
as i s t h a t of sex and the
l i a i s o n s with l o c a l people
i m p l i c a t i o n s are evident
(double entendres)
(Ibid.).
i n the s u g g e s t i v e
The
language
and the p r o v o c a t i v e photographic
u s u a l l y those of a s t e r e o t y p i c a l ,
bare-breasted,
suggestion
images,
generically dark-skinned,
g l i s t e n i n g male or female,
lying seductively
on
some sandy beach.
R a m i f i c a t i o n s of A d v e r t i s i n g Discourse
Can p r o m o t i o n a l images be dismissed as simply
'advertising*
and not t o be taken s e r i o u s l y or are t h e r e more profound
e f f e c t s ? B r i t t o n contends t h a t the c o n t r a s t between the
p r o m o t i o n a l images and r e a l i t y i n the T h i r d World a f f e c t s
experiences
of the t o u r i s t s
For the t o u r i s t ,
cliches
"the experience
and s t e r e o t y p e s "
concurs,
and the host s o c i e t i e s
negatively.
i s reduced t o v a l i d a t i o n of
(Ibid.).
Kathleen/Adams (1984:472)
s t a t i n g t h a t the t r a v e l l i t e r a t u r e g i v e n t o
p r o v i d e s a mental g r i d through which they f i l t e r
tourists
their
perceptions.
The t r a v e l experience
authentic
i t matches the images conveyed by the
if
the
i s t h e r e f o r e deemed t o be
literature.
Thus, f o r the e t h n i c t o u r i s t the image becomes r e a l i t y :
the t r a v e l a g e n t ' s s t e r e o t y p e i s r e i f i e d . These
s t e r e o t y p e s are not c r e a t e d out of t h i n a i r ; they are
based on genuine e t h n i c markers t h a t have become
d i s t o r t e d and s i m p l i f i e d i n the t r a n s l a t i o n p r o c e s s
(Ibid.).
23
T o u r i s t s g e n e r a l l y l a c k the time and knowledge t o
the v a l i d i t y of t h e i r pre-packaged s t e r e o t y p e s
evaluate
(Ibid.)-
c o n t r o l l e d nature of most t o u r s i s not conducive
The
to
e x p l o r a t i o n and d i s c o v e r y of anything other than what
has been prearranged t h e r e f o r e ,
brochure r e p r e s e n t s
f o r the t o u r i s t ,
the
r e a l i t y and a u t h e n t i c i t y .
For the host s o c i e t y ,
Britton
(1979:32 3)
states
that
c o n f o r m i t y t o or i d e n t i f i c a t i o n with the s t e r e o t y p e s promoted
by the t r a v e l i n d u s t r y i s d e t r i m e n t a l t o the f o r m a t i o n of
s e l f - e s t e e m by those who have experienced a c o l o n i a l p a s t .
D i l l e y has p o i n t e d out,
it
i s the developed c o u n t r i e s which
promote images p e r t a i n i n g to h i s t o r y and c u l t u r e : the
images
of T h i r d World or under-developed c o u n t r i e s o f t e n promote
commodities of sun, sea,
As
sand, and sex.
This creates
the
the
n o t i o n t h a t some T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s have no r e a l h i s t o r y or
c u l t u r e of t h e i r own and t h i s can be d e v a s t a t i n g
of a p e o p l e ,
society,
nation,
t o the
spirit
country.
The Amish and t h e i r t o u r i s t brochures are an anomaly. The
experiences
cliches
promised and d e l i v e r e d are pure v a l i d a t i o n s
of
and s t e r e o t y p e s . The Amish have d e c i d e d how much and
what a s p e c t s of t h e i r c u l t u r e they are w i l l i n g t o d i v u l g e ;
tourists
believe
Amish l i f e .
they are seeing a t r u e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n
the
of
Edward Bruner s t a t e s t h a t " T o u r i s t s are w i l l i n g
accept a r e p r o d u c t i o n , as long as i t
i s a good one,
or as
to
one
24
t o u r i s t brochure put i t ,
reproduction'"
as long as i t
i s an
'authentic
(1991:240-41). T h i s i s an example of
successful
c u l t u r a l commoditization and i t can o n l y e x i s t when the power
is
i n the hands of those whose l i v e s are t o be
affected.
25
SECTION I I I
Peru as a T o u r i s t D e s t i n a t i o n
Although B r i t t o n ' s a n a l y s i s
T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s
of h i s
findings
situated
situated
i n the p l e a s u r e p e r i p h e r y , many
apply a l s o t o Peru,
on the c e n t r a l - w e s t e r n
There i s ,
sea,
of t o u r i s m a d v e r t i s i n g i s based on
however,
sand,
a T h i r d World c o u n t r y
coast of South A m e r i c a .
a major d i f f e r e n c e .
The f o u r s ' s
—sun,
sex— are not the primary a d v e r t i s i n g f o c u s .
an o f f i c i a l
o n l y f o u r are of women i n s e x u a l l y
architecture,
and t o p o g r a p h i c a l d i v e r s i t y .
e x o t i c and mysterious
without any r e a l i t y checks:
of urban slums,
indigenous
attire.
colonial
Unquestionably,
and these a s p e c t s are a m p l i f i e d
t h e r e are no images of p o v e r t y or
neighbourhoods.
or of
Only one photograph
Indians and they are not i d e n t i f i e d :
r e a l l y do appear t o be l i k e the
'stereotyped
d e s c r i b e d by B r i t t o n (1979:323). In f a c t ,
reference
artifacts,
scenes of i n d u s t r i a l development,
working or m i d d l e - c l a s s
contains,
s u g g e s t i v e poses or
The m a j o r i t y are of a r c h a e o l o g i c a l s i t e s ,
depicts
I have
brochure put out by Fondo De Promocion T u r i s t i c a
of Peru and of the eighteen photographic images i t
Peru i s
7
they
stage p r o p s '
there
is
w i t h i n the w r i t t e n t e x t t o the campesinos
no
8
at a l l .
P e r u has a n o r t h t o south o r i e n t a t i o n . S t a t e d
s i m p l i s t i c a l l y , the e n t i r e c o a s t l i n e i s a r i d , the Andes
Mountains run down the c e n t r a l p a r t , and on the e a s t e r n s i d e
i s the Amazon b a s i n .
7
I was a d v i s e d i n Peru t h a t campesino i s now the
p o l i t i c a l l y c o r r e c t term when r e f e r r i n g t o the indigenous
I n d i a n s . The e a r l i e r term indigenes i s s t i l l a c c e p t a b l e . I
s h a l l c o n t i n u e t o use the term Indian i n t h i s paper.
8
26
In view of B r i t t o n V s f i n d i n g s ,
too p o o r , too e x o t i c ,
official
the Indians might be c o n s i d e r e d
or too f o r e i g n to be i n c l u d e d i n an
t o u r i s t brochure aimed at a Western a u d i e n c e .
V i c t o r Alba
(1977:132) s t a t e s t h a t a n t h r o p o l o g i c a l r e s e a r c h
has shown t h a t the make-up of the P e r u v i a n p o p u l a t i o n i s
p e r c e n t I n d i a n , 40 percent m e s t i z o ,
9
are
'pure' white,
' p u r e ' Negroes,
47-51
" . . . a n d the remainder
or ' p u r e ' O r i e n t a l s . "
The
1992 p o p u l a t i o n f i g u r e given i n the Country S t u d i e s Area
Handbook (Hudson 1993)
these f i g u r e s ,
i s 22.7 m i l l i o n i n h a b i t a n t s . Based on
the Indians are a huge s i l e n t m a j o r i t y :
because they have no p o l i t i c a l power and s i l e n t
i n the
silent
sense
t h a t many are monolingual speakers of Quechua and A y m a r a
whereas the power i s
10
i n the hands of the Spanish speaking
people.
Peru has been a t o u r i s t d e s t i n a t i o n f o r a v e r y long time
because of i t s
a r c h a e o l o g i c a l r i c h e s . The s i t e s are
scattered
throughout Peru but are mostly concentrated on the
arid
c o a s t a l p l a i n which s t r e t c h e s the e n t i r e l e n g t h of
the
country,
and i n the h i g h l a n d s of the Andes. These h i g h l a n d s
^Mestizos are of mixed S p a n i s h - I n d i a n d e s c e n t . They have
adopted the c u l t u r e of the Whites and c o n s t i t u t e the middle
c l a s s of P e r u v i a n s o c i e t y .
B e s i d e s Quechua and Aymara, t h e r e are many d i f f e r e n t
l o c a l languages spoken i n the Amazonian r e g i o n . V a r i o u s
e s t i m a t e s p l a c e the number between 30 and 40, and the number
of speakers between 50,000 and 250,000.
lc?
27
s t r e t c h south a l l the way to Lake T i t i c a c a and B o l i v i a .
Recently,
t o u r i s m has a l s o begun to p l a y a r o l e i n the
development of the v a s t Amazonian r e g i o n which i s
located
to
the e a s t of the Andes Mountain Range. T h i s huge mountain range
effectively
d i v i d e s the country i n t o very d i s t i n c t
t o p o g r a p h i c a l r e g i o n s and makes land t r a v e l e x c e s s i v e l y
difficult
f o r those accustomed to a modicum of c o m f o r t . A i r
services,
however,
are w e l l developed and under most
c i r c u m s t a n c e s are the p r e f e r a b l e way t o t r a v e l .
The i n f r a s t r u c t u r e i s not i n p l a c e t o handle mass t o u r i s m on a
significant
scale.
I t can, however,
accommodate Cohen's
i n d i v i d u a l mass t o u r i s t category and Smith's c a t e g o r y of
i n c i p i e n t mass t o u r i s m even i n the h i g h t o u r i s t season between
June and September, although, from e x p e r i e n c e ,
i t can
feel
e x c e s s i v e l y crowded i n the main t o u r i s t s i t e s of Cuzco and
Machu P i c c h u . The m a j o r i t y of t o u r i s t s a r r i v i n g from
outside
South America make some kinds of arrangements through v a r i o u s
t r a v e l agencies p r i o r to t h e i r a r r i v a l .
T r a v e l a g e n c i e s are
t r u e f a c i l i t a t o r s because they have access t o such t h i n g s
as
t r a i n and bus t i c k e t s which normally might take a day o r more
of w a i t i n g i n l i n e t o o b t a i n .
In the l a t e
1 1
1980s, I had been on a w h i r l w i n d t o u r of South
An
u n o f f i c i a l source informed me t h a t b r i b e r y i s
t o make t h i n g s run smoothly.
11
used
28
America and a t t h a t time had decided Peru would be the
country
I would most l i k e t o t o u r i n the f u t u r e . The o p p o r t u n i t y
presented
itself
i n 1990 —I had 6 weeks o f f between semesters
i n my f i n a l year as an anthropology major a t the U n i v e r s i t y of.
B r i t i s h Columbia. My c o n t a c t
i n Vancouver was a t r a v e l agent
who was a l s o the daughter of the owner of one of the
largest
t r a v e l agencies i n P e r u . With her h e l p , we put t o g e t h e r an
e x t e n s i v e i t i n e r a r y of many of the a c c e s s i b l e major
a r c h a e o l o g i c a l s i t e s i n the c o u n t r y ,
i n c l u d i n g two i n B o l i v i a .
I d i d not take a guided t o u r per se,
but because I was
t r a v e l l i n g alone and going t o some l e s s - v i s i t e d
booked t o u r s t o see
specific
sites.
Sometimes
locations,
I was alone w i t h
a t o u r guide and a t other times t h e r e would be o t h e r
who had booked through the same agency.
I
tourists
T h i s s o r t of
arrangement gave me l o t s of f r e e time t o e x p l o r e and do
things
on my own.
When I departed f o r Peru,
or m e s t i z o s ,
I knew very l i t t l e
about
campesinos
land reforms, or the Sendero L u m i n o s o .
armed o n l y w i t h a photocopy of pages 2-33
Geographic. V o l . 1 7 7 , No.6, June 1990,
12
I was
of N a t i o n a l
t i t l e d The Moche of
M a o i s t g u e r i l l a s c a l l e d "Shining Path". They were v e r y
a c t i v e i n Peru when I was t h e r e . P r e s i d e n t F u i i m o r i was a b l e
t o e f f e c t the capture of t h e i r leader Abimael Guzman i n 1993
and a c c o r d i n g t o the news r e p o r t s , t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s have s i n c e
subsided.
1 2
29
A n c i e n t P e r u : New Tomb of Royal S p l e n d o r
Reveal a P r e - I n c a World.
13
and Masterworks
I a l s o had along a v e r y o l d copy of
some guidebook t o South America which I have s i n c e
L i k e most t o u r i s t s ,
shock.
misplaced.
I was t o t a l l y unprepared f o r the
culture
I was v i s u a l l y a s s a u l t e d by poverty such as I had never
seen b e f o r e ;
I observed extreme wealth and i t s
concomitant
e x c e s s e s ; I saw how long and hard some people had t o work,
o f t e n a t r i d i c u l o u s l y menial j o b s ,
j u s t t o make ends meet.
T h i s dichotomy of extreme wealth and extreme p o v e r t y
parallels
the c l a s s s t r u c t u r e of Peruvian s o c i e t y : the white upper c l a s s
i s wealthy,
the mestizos are the working middle c l a s s ,
I n d i a n s , who are mostly concentrated i n the h i g h l a n d s ,
p o o r . On many o c c a s i o n s ,
and the
are
because of my apparent a f f l u e n c e ,
was embarrassed t o be a t o u r i s t .
1 4
I
My t r a v e l agent, who had
been born and r a i s e d i n Peru i n a white upper c l a s s f a m i l y
w i t h many s e r v a n t s
i n c l u d i n g a cook, gardener,
and c h a u f f e u r ,
c o u l d not have a n t i c i p a t e d my r e a c t i o n s because,
i t clear later,
as she made
t h a t i s the n a t u r a l order of t h i n g s
i n Peru
—people t h e r e expect i t t o be t h a t way.
Having s a i d a l l these t h i n g s ,
I must add t h a t i t
was
T h i s i s the famous Lord of Sipan tomb, the r i c h e s t
u n l o o t e d tomb i n the New World. I had the p l e a s u r e of meeting
Dr. Walter A l v a , the a r c h a e o l o g i s t who i s d i r e c t i n g the d i g .
1 3
C o n v e r s e l y , when d i n i n g with the e l e g a n t owner of the
t r a v e l agency, I was embarrassed because I d i d n ' t appear
a f f l u e n t enough!
1 4
30
intellectually
the most c h a l l e n g i n g and rewarding of any t r i p
I have ever t a k e n .
the
But, i t was a l s o necessary f o r me t o
'environmental bubble' p r o v i d e d by the
establishment
retreat
have
tourist
(Cohen 1984:378) as a p l a c e i n t o which I c o u l d
and recoup.
I r e a l l y was the epitome of an
incipient
mass t o u r i s t as I d i d n ' t always adapt very w e l l t o l o c a l norms
(Smith 1989:12).
I v i v i d l y r e c a l l becoming q u i t e upset
times when t h e r e was no water,
let
alone hot water,
at
t o wash my
h a i r every few days!
The Tourism Complex Around Cuzco and t h e Highlands
The Department of Cuzco and i t s
just
c a p i t a l , the C i t y of Cuzco (or
' C u z c o ' ) , are l o c a t e d i n the h i g h l a n d s of the
Andes.
1 5
southern
Cuzco i s a l s o the h i s t o r i c a l c a p i t a l c i t y of
the
Inca empire, both of which were conquered by the Spaniards i n
the 1500s. Spanish c o l o n i a l a r c h i t e c t u r e
is
superimposed on
Incan a r c h i t e c t u r e and the combination of the two i s a
fascinating
b l e n d i n g . T h i s makes the C i t y of Cuzco, as w e l l
the many other a r c h a e o l o g i c a l
s i t e s i n the s u r r o u n d i n g areas -
- p a r t i c u l a r l y Machu P i c c h u — the most v i s i t e d t o u r i s t
sites
the c o u n t r y .
that
In f a c t ,
P i e r r e L . van den Berghe s t a t e s
t h i s area i s one of the main a t t r a c t i o n s
in
on a l l South American
T h e Area Handbook (Hudson 1993) g i v e s the p o p u l a t i o n
f i g u r e of 1,041,800 f o r the Dept. of Cuzco. The breakdown i s
465,000 urban, 576,400 r u r a l . The C i t y of Cuzco had a
p o p u l a t i o n of 275,000 i n 1990.
1 5
as
31
grand t o u r s
(1980:382).
10
Van den Berghe has done e x t e n s i v e r e s e a r c h on P e r u ,
i n the Cuzco r e g i o n (1974, 1977,
area i s
1980).
especially
He s t a t e s t h a t
the
i n h a b i t e d by urban mestizos and r u r a l I n d i a n s . The
m e s t i z o s c o n s t i t u t e more than j u s t the working c l a s s and the
p e t t y b o u r g e o i s i e of the a r e a : they are a l s o the p o l i t i c a l and
economic r u l i n g c l a s s
(1980:382). V i c t o r A l b a s t a t e s t h a t the
m e s t i z o s of the h i g h l a n d s are i n a p r i v i l e g e d p o s i t i o n i n t h a t
they,
u n l i k e the mestizos on the c o a s t ,
are not s u b j e c t
to
anyone except white a d m i n i s t r a t o r s and hacienda owners
(1977:134). They have a monopoly on the i n t e r m e d i a r y p o s i t i o n s
i n the t o u r i s t t r a d e because they speak Quechua as w e l l as
Spanish.
1 7
The b e t t e r educated mestizos a l s o speak E n g l i s h
—some even speak a s m a t t e r i n g of French, German, and
Japanese— and t h i s g i v e s them the a b i l i t y t o move between the
worlds of, the I n d i a n and the t o u r i s t and a c t as a f a c i l i t a t o r
t o b r i n g the two together
(van den Berghe 1980:385).
The I n d i a n s outnumber the mestizos but they a r e a t a
disadvantage.
I have chosen Cuzco t o i l l u s t r a t e my p o i n t due t o the
a v a i l a b i l i t y of academic l i t e r a t u r e . I observed s i m i l a r types
of c o m m o d i t i z a t i o n i n the Amazon and on the c o a s t , but not t o
the same e x t e n t .
1 6
Many mestizos are s t i l l f u l l - b l o o d e d I n d i a n . The reason
they a r e c o n s i d e r e d mestizo i s t h a t they have adopted /the
d r e s s and l i f e - s t y l e of the w h i t e s .
17
32
. . . t h e y are handicapped not only by p o v e r t y and by the
i s o l a t i o n of the communities many of them l i v e i n , but
a l s o by the f a c t t h a t , when they do r e c e i v e an e d u c a t i o n ,
they are taught i n Spanish —a strange language— which
l e s s e n s s c h o l a s t i c progress and d i s c o u r a g e s many (Alba
1977:134).
Land reforms have not r e a l l y changed the l i v e s
of the
Indians.
They are s t i l l a t t a c h e d t o the land e i t h e r through a commune
or through a hacienda as sharecroppers or t e n a n t s .
sufficient
farming.
potato,
It
l a n d t o p r o v i d e anything beyond
Few own
subsistence
i s a d r y , c o l d c l i m a t e around Cuzco and the
which i s
along with corn.
indigenous t o the r e g i o n ,
i s the main c r o p
In the more temperate and t r o p i c a l v a l l e y s
the lower a l t i t u d e s many v a r i e t i e s
at
of f r u i t s , v e g e t a b l e s , and
g r a i n s are grown and then t r u c k e d t o Cuzco and o t h e r urban
centres.
U n f o r t u n a t e l y , the Indians i n the h i g h l a n d s do not
n o r m a l l y have the money to purchase these items.
haciendas r a i s e c a t t l e
expensive.
Large
and sheep but meat i s a l s o v e r y
In comparison to mestizos who have had a c c e s s to a
more v a r i e d d i e t ,
the Indians tend t o be s h o r t e r and have
o t h e r p h y s i c a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s which i n d i c a t e
that
m a l n u t r i t i o n i s p e r v a s i v e throughout the p o p u l a t i o n .
1 8
A c c o r d i n g t o van den Berghe, the e n t i r e t o u r i s t complex
is
P e r s o n a l o b s e r v a t i o n s and communication w i t h r e s i d e n t s
and f e l l o w t o u r i s t s , many of whom were academics from North
America on t h e i r summer h o l i d a y s . The Area Handbook (Hudson
1993) s t a t e s t h a t 12 m i l l i o n people s u f f e r extreme p o v e r t y
(1990-92 f i g u r e s ) . M a l n u t r i t i o n and s t a r v a t i o n are the l e a d i n g
causes of d e a t h .
1 8
33
c o n t r o l l e d by the m e s t i z o s .
1 9
T h i s i n c l u d e s the h o t e l s and
r e s t a u r a n t s and t h e i r employees,
taxis,
tour guides,
owners and s a l e s c l e r k s , s t r e e t p e d d l e r s ,
the vendors i n the market p l a c e s ,
shop
a i r p o r t employees,
and so on. The e n t i r e
mestizo p o p u l a t i o n , d i r e c t l y or i n d i r e c t l y , b e n e f i t s
tourism
from
(1980:383).
T o u r i s t i c Encounters and Commoditizations
Almost every t o u r i s t who comes t o Cuzco i s an e t h n i c
tourist.
They come t o see the r u i n s and the a r c h i t e c t u r e and they come
t o see the indigenous people,
festivals.
t h e i r c u l t u r e , and t h e i r
The Indians are i n t e r e s t i n g as a s p e c t a c l e
because
many c o n t i n u e t o wear c o l o u r f u l t r a d i t i o n a l c l o t h i n g woven
from the wool of indigenous animals such as l l a m a s ,
and a l p a c a s .
vicunas,
Some of the women a l s o wear an i n t e r e s t i n g
bowler
type hat which begs t o be photographed.
The m e s t i z o s are the c u l t u r e b r o k e r s , or i n t e r m e d i a r i e s , who
facilitate
encounters between t o u r i s t s and Indians
(van den
Berghe 1980:385-88). Sometimes these encounters are on the
official
i t i n e r a r y and i t
i s not d i f f i c u l t t o t e l l t h a t
the
encounter i s w i t h other mestizo entrepreneurs r a t h e r than w i t h
V a n den Berghe i s c o r r e c t about mestizo c o n t r o l ;
however, i n many c a s e s , the a c t u a l ownership of the l a r g e r
t r a v e l agencies and major h o t e l s i s i n the hands of the white
r u l i n g c l a s s (personal communications w i t h owners i n Lima and
mestizos i n Cuzco).
i y
34
Photograph 1
a c t u a l Indians r e g a r d l e s s of what the guide p r o c l a i m s .
See
Photograph 1 (above) which i s of a boy demonstrating the wing
span of a young condor. The boy i s dressed i n a n a t i v e poncho
and hat but underneath he i s wearing jeans and running shoes.
At the entrance t o t h i s viewing area i s a s o u v e n i r shop and
the dozen o r so people I was with on the t o u r stopped t o do
some shopping a f t e r watching the boy p l a y i n g w i t h t h i s
Clearly,
bird.
t h e r e was an arrangement between everyone concerned:
the t o u r i s t s would f e e l
t h e r e was no fee
o b l i g a t e d to buy something
because
f o r watching and photographing the boy and
the condor; the t o u r guide and the bus d r i v e r would get a
percentage of the s a l e s made to the t o u r i s t s ;
the owners of
35
this
little
t o u r i s t stop would make a few d o l l a r s ; the boy
would get more w e s t e r n - s t y l e
this
s t a t u s symbol c l o t h i n g .
In a way,
seemed t o be a f a i r exchange f o r everyone i n c l u d i n g the
tourists
because t h i s was probably t h e i r o n l y o p p o r t u n i t y t o
ever see
a l i v e condor. I r e c a l l being upset because
I
o b j e c t e d t o t h i s magnificent b i r d being used as a commodity.
The Spanish speaking mestizo owners of the t o u r i s t spot
a l s o wearing p i e c e s of Indian a p p a r e l . They were,
in
were
fact,
a p p r o p r i a t i n g a p a r t of Indian t r a d i t i o n and u s i n g i t as a
commodity t o make themselves more 'authentic*
the t o u r i s t s
i n the eyes of
( " . . . t h e y manipulate e t h n i c i t y f o r
individual
g a i n i n response t o s i t u a t i o n a l o p p o r t u n i t i e s " [van den Berghe
1980:389]). T h i s i s a good s e l l i n g t a c t i c .
I t i s b e t t e r on the
i
a u t h e n t i c i t y s c a l e t o buy s o u v e n i r s ,
same,
even i f they are
the
from d i s t a n t l o c a t i o n s and from people who look
like
Indians r a t h e r than from the b i g c i t i e s or the a i r p o r t s from
people who d r e s s i n w e s t e r n - s t y l e
The
clothes.
p o v e r t y i s such t h a t begging by Indians near or a t
a r c h a e o l o g i c a l s i t e s on t o u r i s t routes i s commonplace.
A c c o r d i n g t o my guide of t h a t day, f o r some, t h i s a f f o r d s a
much b e t t e r
l i v i n g than the s u b s i s t e n c e
farming t h a t most
Indians s u r v i v e on. Photograph 2 ( f o l l o w i n g page)
i s of an
I n d i a n woman and her t h r e e c h i l d r e n w i t h some of the
animals f o r
'cute'
family
a p p e a l . The people are s h a b b i l y d r e s s e d ,
36
Photograph
unwashed, a n d a p p e a r
animals appear
to
2
t o be v e r y p o o r .
t o be v e r y c l e a n
i n comparison.
communicate w i t h them and I c a n n o t
c i r c u m s t a n c e s which have l e d t h i s
her c h i l d r e n
I was n o t a b l e
r e l a t e any o f t h e l i f e
I n d i a n mother t o p r o v i d e f o r
i n a manner w h i c h I f e l t
begging
Interestingly, the
t o be d e g r a d i n g .
She
was n o t r e a l l y
p e r s e . She w o u l d p l a c e t h e a n i m a l s
and
t h e c h i l d r e n c a r r y i n g them t o t h e f o r e f r o n t
a n d when t h e
t o u r i s t s photographed
them, s h e w o u l d p u t h e r h a n d o u t h o p i n g
to
I o v e r h e a r d some m e s t i z o g u i d e s
get paid. Although
the t o u r i s t s t o ignore t h i s
a d o r a b l e and t h e c h i l d r e n
little
telling
t r o u p e , t h e a n i m a l s were s o
s o p a t h e t i c t h a t a few p e o p l e
took
37
photographs anyway. There are s e v e r a l d i f f e r e n t
l e v e l s of
c o m m o d i t i z a t i o n i n t h i s photograph: indigenous Indians
t h e i r t r a d i t i o n a l dress,
in
n a t i v e animals of the Andean r e g i o n ,
said l o o k i n g , unwashed, and presumably hungry c h i l d r e n . A l s o ,
for this
I n d i a n mother, we, the t o u r i s t s ,
were economic ,
commodities through which she hoped to feed her c h i l d r e n . T h i s
was hot an encounter f a c i l i t a t e d by a t r a v e l agency o r
e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l mestizo middleman. The encounter,
was
•authentic
1
albeit
sad,
because they were not mestizos p r e t e n d i n g t o
be I n d i a n s .
Photograph 3 ( f o l l o w i n g page) has an i n t e r e s t i n g
juxtaposition
of a modern h y d r o f o i l and a t r a d i t i o n a l l y g a r b e d . I n d i a n w i t h
h i s l l a m a s . T h i s encounter was set up e n t i r e l y by the
tourist
company which operates the h y d r o f o i l a c r o s s Lake T i t i c a c a .
Upon d i s e m b a r k i n g , the guide t o l d us t o take as many p i c t u r e s
as we wished and not to o f f e r the f e l l o w any money because
agency pays him. As soon as the guide was out of s i g h t ,
the
the
I n d i a n put out h i s hand f o r payment. The other t o u r i s t s walked
away i n d i s g u s t :
I gave the f e l l o w a d o l l a r and took numerous
photographs. Not only was the j u x t a p o s i t i o n of the modern and
the t r a d i t i o n a l i n t e r e s t i n g ,
i t was a l s o the o n l y
instance
when I had the o p p o r t u n i t y to c l o s e l y examine c l o t h i n g which
had been k n i t t e d from homespun wool i n t r a d i t i o n a l p a t t e r n s .
To me, t h i s
i s an a u t h e n t i c t o u r i s t i c photograph taken i n a
c o l o u r f u l t o u r i s t i c s e t t i n g which was not r e p r e s e n t e d t o be
38
Photograph 3
anything
fellow
o t h e r t h a n what i t was. I d i d n o t m i n d s l i p p i n g t h e
some money: he was s i m p l y
income by c a s h i n g
The
i n on h i s n a t i v e a t t i r e
three previous t o u r i s t i c
individuals
encounters
t o supplement h i s
and t h e l l a m a s .
have d e a l t
with
o r s m a l l groups, b u t e n t i r e v i l l a g e s have
commoditized
Uros I n d i a n s
Titicaca;
attempting
i n order t o get a share
2 0
live
actually,
i n small v i l l a g e s
they
of the tourist
on t h e s h o r e s
l i v e on i s l a n d s w h i c h t h e y
been
revenue.
o f Lake
make
^ U r o s I n d i a n s a r e m o n o l i n g u a l s p e a k e r s o f Aymara.
s u b s i s t on f i s h w h i c h t h e y c a t c h f r o m t h e l a k e .
u
They
Photograph 4
themselves out of t o t o r a reeds t h a t grow on the shores of
lake.
Photograph 4 (above)
i s of such a v i l l a g e .
the
The l o c a l
t r a v e l agencies take t o u r i s t groups t o s e v e r a l of these i s l a n d
communities and i n r e t u r n g i v e the Indians some s o r t o f
renumeration. The n o v e l t y f o r the t o u r i s t s
i s t o walk around
on a reed s u r f a c e e n t i r e l y supported by water.
a l s o made out of these reeds,
as are the s o u v e n i r s which a few
of the Indians t r y t o s e l l to the t o u r i s t s .
appearances,
The homes are
By outward
v i l l a g e l i f e appears to go on r e l a t i v e l y
unaffected.
P o v e r t y i s r e l a t i v e and I d o n ' t know whether the Uros Indians
40
c o n s i d e r themselves
poor;
t o me, however, t h e p o v e r t y o f t h e s e
I n d i a n s was q u i t e e v i d e n t . L a k e T i t i c a c a
navigable
The
l a k e i n t h e w o r l d and a t t h a t a l t i t u d e
c h i l d r e n h a d n o t h i n g on t h e i r
have been a c u l t u r a l
feet or legs
A local
g u i d e on t h e t r i p
t h a t r h e u m a t i s m and a r t h r i t i s
I n d i a n s and t h e i r
life
l a n d based
There
was a c e r t a i n d i g n i t y
soled
are a fact
of l i f e
me
f o r these
i s much l o w e r t h a n t h a t o f
about
or guest
t h e s e I n d i a n s and I
i n their village.
felt
A l l I can
i s t h a t t h e l e a d e r s o f t h e s e I n d i a n s have chosen t o
a l l o w some o f t h e i r
than the t r a v e l
—the
colourful
i s l a n d s t o be u s e d
lake,
the reed islands,
was e x t r e m e l y
Whether t h e t r a v e l
villages
sites
rather
the villages, the
a i r , the incredible purity of
e x o t i c and t h e r e f o r e s a l e a b l e .
a g e n c i e s were u s i n g t h e U r o s
as commodities
I n d i a n s were u s i n g t h e t r a v e l
facilitate
as t o u r i s t
a g e n c i e s f o r c i n g t o u r i s m upon them. T h e e n t i r e
Indians, the r a r i f i e d
the l i g h t —
their
t h r o u g h my t h i c k
felt
Indians.
v e r y much t h e v i s i t o r
setting
(which c o u l d
who s p o k e E n g l i s h t o l d
expectancy
other
surmise
i t i s cold.
c h o i c e ) w h i l e I , on t h e o t h e r h a n d ,
t h e c o l d n e s s o f t h e damp r e e d s r i g h t
shoes.
i s the highest
I n d i a n s and
o r , whether i n f a c t
t h e Uros
agencies as commodities
t h e movement o f t o u r i s t s t o t h e i r
to
islands really i s
inconsequential.
In
t h e f o u r examples I h a v e . c i t e d , t h e e t h n i c e x o t i c i s m o f t h e
41
indigenous Indians has been the b a s i c s a l e a b l e
commodity. Van
den Berghe c o n c u r s , s t a t i n g t h a t " . . . by and l a r g e ,
Indians
are much more a t t r a c t i o n s than they are b e n e f i c i a r i e s
tourism"
of
(1980:383).
There are a l s o other ways i n which some of the r u r a l
are a b l e t o get at l e a s t a s m a l l p a r t of t o u r i s t
Indians
revenues.
Among other n a t i v e h a n d i c r a f t s , t o u r i s m has p a r t i c u l a r l y
i n c r e a s e d the demand f o r a l p a c a p e l t r u g s , a l p a c a wool,
sweaters,
and other f i n e t e x t i l e s which t h i s wool i s
woven
i n t o . M e s t i z o middlemen purchase these goods cheaply from the
Indians and r e s e l l them i n t h e i r shops or t o other
i n the towns.
retailers
U n f o r t u n a t e l y , the Indians are not a b l e t o
cut
out the i n t e r m e d i a r i e s because most do not speak S p a n i s h ,
alone E n g l i s h ;
2 1
furthermore, they do not have
the
s p e c i a l i z e d knowledge t h a t the mestizos have about
p r a c t i c e s such as o b t a i n i n g l i c e n c e s ,
knowing who t o b r i b e ( I b i d . : 3 8 5 ) .
Spanish,
let
business
f i l l i n g out forms,
Since the a r r i v a l of
or
the
the Indians have been e x p l o i t e d ; now, they are being
e x p l o i t e d by the mestizos who are t r e a t i n g them and t h e i r
p r o d u c t s as commodities,
but at l e a s t ,
some of the t o u r i s m
money i s t r i c k l i n g down i n t o Indian hands. Van den Berghe
notes t h a t some I n d i a n communities have s t a r t e d the p r a c t i c e
E n g l i s h i s the common language f o r communication
between t o u r i s t s from d i f f e r n t c o u n t r i e s and P e r u v i a n s working
i n the t r a v e l i n d u s t r y .
2 1
42
of p r o d u c i n g i n f e r i o r t e x t i l e s f o r the
(Ibid.:383),
tourists
2 2
a c l e a r i n d i c a t i o n t h a t t o u r i s t s are viewed
as
economic commodities by both Indians and m e s t i z o s .
Many of the s m a l l towns around Cuzco and elsewhere i n the
h i g h l a n d s have I n d i a n markets where the Indians come t o buy
and s e l l t h e i r p r o d u c t s . These markets are p o p u l a r w i t h the
tourists
because,
i n comparison t o buying i n Cuzco, they
h i g h e r on the a u t h e n t i c i t y s c a l e .
T o u r i s t s , however,
rate
must r e l y
on mestizo knowledge i n order to get to these markets as
are h e l d on d i f f e r e n t days, at d i f f e r e n t times
towns,
and so on. Once t h e r e ,
however,
it
they
in different
i s d i f f i c u l t t o know
whether one i s buying from an Indian or from an e n t e r p r i s i n g
m e s t i z o who has t r u c k e d i n h i s goods a l l the way from Cuzco,
w i t h the p r i c e of the g a s o l i n e being added t o the
(Ibid.:387).
cost
Theron Nunez makes the o b s e r v a t i o n t h a t when
communities are economically dependent on t o u r i s m ,
"...(they)
must maximize the e x p l o i t a t i o n of the t o u r i s t c l i e n t e l e
t o the f u l l e s t "
(sic)
(1989:266).
An i n t e r e s t i n g phenomenon i s the t r a n s f o r m a t i o n of t r a d i t i o n a l
festivals
i n t o l a v i s h t o u r i s t d i s p l a y s . The I n t i Raymi
(or
I purchased t h r e e sweaters from t h r e e d i f f e r e n t
l o c a t i o n s . Upon f u r t h e r examination, I found one of t h e ,
sweaters t o be of such i n f e r i o r q u a l i t y and workmanship t h a t
i t was t o t a l l y u s e l e s s .
2 2
43
I n t i Raimi) i s the most famous f e s t i v a l
which i s h e l d y e a r l y on June 24th.
l a v i s h processions
i n the
highlands
I t i s combined w i t h
2 3
the
of the C a t h o l i c Feast of Corpus C h r i s t i
a l o n g w i t h other f e s t i v i t i e s put on by the Chamber of Commerce
of Cuzco. T h i s week-long c e l e b r a t i o n i s c a l l e d the Semana d e l
Cuzco, the climax of which i s the a c t u a l ceremony of the
Raymi which i s h e l d i n the Incan f o r t r e s s
Inti
of Sacsahuaman
o v e r l o o k i n g Cuzco (van den Berghe 1980:386-87). Van den Berghe
calls this
a revivalistic festival,
t o u r i s t oriented a c t i v i t i e s
(Ibid.:386).
" . . . a week l o n g orgy of
—some a u t h e n t i c ,
some
staged..."
A u t h e n t i c Indian groups i n t r a d i t i o n a l r e g a l i a
come from a l l over southern Peru t o perform songs and dances
for tourists
itself,
and mestizos a l i k e .
however,
Inca k i n g
festival
mestizos dress up as Indians and l o c a l
s t y l i s h secretaries
supplies
For the I n t i Raymi
become Incan v e s t a l v i r g i n s . The m i l i t a r y
'Inca w a r r i o r s ' and a u n i v e r s i t y student
becomes the
(Ibid.:386).
Other s m a l l e r towns have a l s o s t a r t e d t o s e n s a t i o n a l i z e
e m b e l l i s h upon t h e i r t r a d i t i o n a l v i l l a g e
and
f e s t i v a l s i n order to
cash i n on the t o u r i s t t r a d e . The f u r t h e r away the town i s and
the more d i f f i c u l t i t
i s to get t o ,
the h i g h e r
the
authenticity rating (Ibid.:387).
In a c t u a l i t y ,
M i c h a e l ' s Guide to B o l i v i a
I n t i Raimi i s the second l a r g e s t
America a f t e r C a r n i v a l i n Rio de
t r a d i t i o n a l Inca summer s o l s t i c e
and Peru (1990) c l a i m s the
f e s t i v a l i n a l l of South
J a n e i r o . I t i s the
festival.
2 3
c
many of
the
44
events are staged and modelled on western ideas
of
entertainment such as beauty c o n t e s t s i n which mestizo
d r e s s up as Indians
Clearly,
girls
(Ibid.).
t o u r i s m has had, and continues t o have,
an e f f e c t on
the i n h a b i t a n t s of Cuzco and the h i g h l a n d s . The p l a c e i s
i n c r e d i b l y r i c h i n a r c h a e o l o g i c a l s i t e s alone t h a t i t
inconceivable that tourism.should c e a s e ;
2 4
so
is
furthermore,
the
area i s q u i t e dependent on t o u r i s m revenue. U n f o r t u n a t e l y ,
most of the a c t u a l revenue never reaches the area because
the
t o u r i s t s who are coming t o the h i g h l a n d s have g e n e r a l l y made
t h e i r t r a v e l arrangements elsewhere.
The monies p a i d f o r
t r a n s p o r t a t i o n have gone to i n t e r n a t i o n a l and n a t i o n a l a i r
c a r r i e r s ; the monies f o r accommodation have been p a i d ,
cases,
rate,
t o a t r a v e l agency who buys the rooms a t the
takes a p r o f i t , and t r a n s f e r s the balance t o
accounts of the i n d i v i d u a l absentee h o t e l owners.
i n most
'rack'
the
So when the
t o u r i s t e v e n t u a l l y reaches Cuzco, most t h i n g s have a l r e a d y
been p a i d f o r and t h a t money does not enter i n t o the
economy except through wages p a i d t o employees,
taxes,
local
permits,
and so on. The money which does enter i n t o the
local
economy i s the d i s c r e t i o n a r y spending of the t o u r i s t . Nunez
states:
T o u r i s m f i g u r e s have f l u c t u a t e d w i t h the p o l i t i c a l
c l i m a t e , g u e r i l l a a c t i v i t i e s , and p e r i o d i c outbreaks of
c h o l e r a . These are a l l s e r i o u s c o n s i d e r a t i o n s . As of J a n . ' 9 3 ,
the 1990 c h o l e r a outbreak had r e s u l t e d i n 3,482 deaths (Hudson
1993).
2 4
-
t
45
. . . t h e monies expended by t o u r i s t s f o r goods and s e r v i c e s
at the l o c a l , community l e v e l , i n markets and b a z a a r s , i n
t a x i s and i n t a v e r n s , f o r meals and g r a t u i t i e s , may b r i n g
g r e a t e r p r o s p e r i t y and w e l l - b e i n g to members of the h o s t
community than they might have found p o s s i b l e by any
other means i n t h e i r l i f e t i m e s (1989:274).
It
i s t r u e t h a t t o u r i s m has e f f e c t e d many changes i n the
of the i n h a b i t a n t s ,
crafts.
in their rituals,
lives
and i n t h e i r a r t s and
The a n t h r o p o l o g i c a l c r i t i q u e of m o d e r n i z a t i o n would
n a t u r a l l y view these changes from a n e g a t i v e a s p e c t ;
the
scenario,
following
however,
section w i l l
show.
i s not a l l b l a c k and white as the
46
SECTION IV
C u l t u r a l Commoditization; A Case Study
Davydd Greenwood f i r s t p u b l i s h e d an a r t i c l e on t o u r i s m as
c u l t u r a l c o m m o d i t i z a t i o n , C u l t u r e by the Pound,
fieldwork,
f i r s t s t a r t e d i n the e a r l y s i x t i e s ,
i n 1977.
took p l a c e i n
the town of F u e n t e r r a b i a i n the n o r t h - e a s t e r n c o r n e r of
and
was s p e c i f i c a l l y concentrated on a r i t u a l
His
festival
Spain
called
the A l a r d e which had been performed s i n c e the 17th c e n t u r y .
had
been a p r i v a t e f e s t i v a l of s o r t s :
a commemoration of
It
the
time when everyone from every s o c i a l stratum had u n i t e d and
w i t h s t o o d a s i x t y - n i n e day s i e g e by the F r e n c h .
all
Since then,
the townspeople had p a r t i c i p a t e d i n the A l a r d e .
been a r i t u a l
I t had
imbued w i t h deep meaning. "Together t h e s e
people...(became)
a s i n g l e s p i r i t capable of w i t h s t a n d i n g the
o n s l a u g h t s of the o u t s i d e world as they once w i t h s t o o d
the
s i e g e of 1638"
is a
(Greenwood 1989:176). S p a i n ,
c o u n t r y of d i s t i n c t c l a s s d i f f e r e n c e s ,
all
l i k e Peru,
but f o r t h i s one day,
of the c i t i z e n s of F u e n t e r r a b i a were u n i t e d i n s p i r i t and
action,
j u s t as they were when they h e l d o f f the French s i e g e .
T h i s was an event by and f o r the c i t i z e n s of the town p l u s a
few Spanish e l i t e with durable t i e s t o the community. I t had
never been a t o u r i s t s p e c t a c l e performed f o r the
All
t h i s changed i n 1969.
tourists.
Through a combination of events too
numerous t o e x p l a i n h e r e , the m u n i c i p a l government changed the
Alarde into a public spectacle.
"In s e r v i c e of simple
47
p e c u n i a r y motives,
i t d e f i n e d the A l a r d e as a p u b l i c show t o ^
be performed f o r o u t s i d e r s who, because of t h e i r
importance i n the town, had the r i g h t t o see
economic
it"
(Ibid.:178).
W i t h i n two summers, t h e r e was a problem i n f i n d i n g
citizens
who would p a r t i c i p a t e i n the A l a r d e . What had once been a
r i t u a l of meaning f o r the people,
belief
an " . . . a f f i r m a t i o n of
i n t h e i r own c u l t u r e " ( I b i d . )
had been d e c l a r e d a
p u b l i c event t o a t t r a c t more t o u r i s m revenue.
T h i s had
v i o l a t e d the meaning of the A l a r d e f o r the townspeople,
power and a u t h e n t i c i t y had been destroyed
Greenwood wrote a s t r o n g condemnation of
its
(Ibid.:179).
cultural
c o m m o d i t i z a t i o n a t the end of h i s essay when i t
published i n
their
was
1977:
T r e a t i n g c u l t u r e as a n a t u r a l r e s o u r c e or a commodity
over which t o u r i s t s have r i g h t s i s not simply p e r v e r s e ,
i t i s a v i o l a t i o n of the p e o p l e s ' c u l t u r a l r i g h t s .
The second e d i t i o n of the essay was p u b l i s h e d i n 1989 w i t h a
f i v e page e p i l o g u e .
In the i n t e r v e n i n g y e a r s ,
Greenwood has
m o d i f i e d h i s p o s i t i o n on c u l t u r a l commoditization through
t o u r i s m . He s t a t e s t h a t on the s u r f a c e ,
authentic
d e t e r m i n i n g what
is
seems simple enough: j u s t look a t t r a d i t i o n a l models
and compare them t o c u r r e n t models.
The changes which have
o c c u r r e d can be judged t o be u n t r a d i t i o n a l and t h e r e f o r e
inauthentic
(Ibid.:183).
i s not the c a s e ,
Greenwood notes t h a t t h i s ,
however,
" . . . t h e e v a l u a t i o n of t o u r i s m cannot be
accomplished by measuring the impact of t o u r i s m a g a i n s t
a
s t a t i c background" ( I b i d . : 1 8 2 ) .
a c c e l e r a t e change,
tourism.
Poverty,
urbanization,
C e r t a i n l y , t o u r i s m may
but these changes are not endemic
industrialization,
pollution,
c i v i l war and many other f a c t o r s
c u l t u r e change
to
(Ibid.:181).
"webs of s i g n i f i c a n c e "
the v i l l a g e ,
migration,
contribute
C u l t u r e s are i n a c o n t i n u a l process of change,
complex
to
town,
province,
caught up i n
( I b i d . : 1 8 3 ) which extend beyond
or c o u n t r y . When Greenwood had
the o p p o r t u n i t y to r e a s s e s s the meaning of the A l a r d e ,
found t h a t i t was no longer a c u l t u r a l a f f i r m a t i o n
he
of
h i s t o r i c a l u n i t y f o r the people of F u e n t e r r a b i a . I t had become
a public spectacle,
significance
rights
imbued " . . . w i t h contemporary
as p a r t of the c o n t e s t over r e g i o n a l
i n Spain" ( I b i d . : 1 8 1 ) .
i t had become meaningful
1988,
costumes, r i t u a l s ,
(Graburn 1984,
(McKean 1989,
to i n d i c a t e t h a t
Cohen
commoditization
i n the area of f o l k a r t s and
ceremonies,
T h i s goes a g a i n s t the g r a i n of
thinking
but
society.
et a l . )
can be a r e v i t a l i z i n g f o r c e
crafts,
I t s meaning had changed,
ample evidence i n the l i t e r a t u r e
Greenwood 1989,
political
f o r the people w i t h i n the c o n t e x t of
contemporary Basque-Spanish
There i s
2 5
political
festivals,
'traditional*
Turner and Ash 1975,
and so on.
anthropological
MacCannell
1984,
F u e n t e r r a b i a i s a Basque town. The Basques have been
t r y i n g t o g a i n independence f o r many y e a r s from S p a i n .
2 5
49
R o s s e l 1988,
that
et a l . )
which b a s i c a l l y s u b s c r i b e s t o the
theory
i f a c u l t u r a l product i s changed through e x t e r n a l
forces
such as t o u r i s m , i t ceases to be a u t h e n t i c and l o s e s
its
meaning and v a l u e . A u t h e n t i c i t y i s p e r c e i v e d d i f f e r e n t l y by
everyone and i n t h a t sense i t
is negotiable.
It
is cultural
arrogance t o t h i n k t h a t the f a b r i c of e n t i r e c u l t u r e s bound by
custom,
language,
and r e l i g i o n i s so weak t h a t i t can simply
be rendered meaningless
when i t s
outward m a n i f e s t a t i o n s
are
m o d i f i e d or a l t e r e d t o cash i n on t o u r i s m revenue.
I shall let
David H a r r i s o n
(1992:31) have the f i n a l word about
c u l t u r a l commoditization i n T h i r d World c o u n t r i e s :
. . . t h e r e i s something q u i t e p a t r o n i s i n g ( s i c ) i n the view
t h a t the c u l t u r e of many LDCs i s weak and i n d i r e need of
p r o t e c t i o n from o u t s i d e . In f a c t , the c u l t u r e s of many
t o u r i s t - r e c e i v i n g s o c i e t i e s . . . m a y possess some k i n d of
•deep s t r u c t u r e ' which allows them t o adapt t o new
i n f l u e n c e s and yet r e t a i n —even r e i n f o r c e — t h e i r '
v i t a l i t y and coherence.
Transformations
and Conclusions
I had done v e r y l i t t l e
r e s e a r c h p r i o r to going t o Peru and my
c u l t u r a l v a l u e s were f i r m l y p l a n t e d i n E u r o c e n t r i c i d e o l o g y .
Soon a f t e r m y a r r i v a l ,
(
I began to doubt my p r e v i o u s l y
u n q u e s t i o n i n g acceptance
of Western s u p e r i o r i t y . T h i s s h i f t
t h i n k i n g was p r e c i p i t a t e d by e x c e p t i o n a l l y
well-preserved
r u i n s of complex c i v i l i z a t i o n s p r e - d a t i n g the
civilizations
which gave r i s e to Greek temples and Roman a n t i q u i t i e s .
were e x q u i s i t e
artifacts
from even e a r l i e r
in
civilizations
There
50
contemporaneous w i t h the Egyptian pyramid b u i l d e r s . For me,
t h i s was a new r e a l i t y . Although I had read about t h e s e
a n c i e n t c u l t u r e s and s t r u c t u r e s as an a d u l t , t h a t
knowledge
had not been v a l i d a t e d through any h i g h s c h o o l h i s t o r y
New World peoples
class.
as the s k i l l e d b u i l d e r s of these i n c r e d i b l e
a r c h i t e c t u r a l wonders,
on par w i t h O l d World a n t i q u i t i e s ,
had
not been i n t e g r a t e d i n t o my knowledge base by our e d u c a t i o n a l
system.
To a c t u a l l y see,
t o u c h , and walk on these
ancient
r u i n s and t o see the s o p h i s t i c a t e d a r t i f a c t s made by the
a n c i e n t craftsmen changed my p e r c e p t i o n s and a t t i t u d e s
toward
the w o r l d f o r e v e r and towards our E u r o c e n t r i c e d u c a t i o n a l
system t h a t our e n t i r e c u l t u r e i s founded on. Turner and Ash
make the f o l l o w i n g statement about t o u r i s m which confirms my
experience:
I t s t i l l has the p o t e n t i a l to educate, s i n c e , i n i t s
h i g h e s t form, i t seeks t o view and understand the o r i g i n s
and development of c u l t u r e s . Anecdotes of t o u r i s t
c r a s s n e s s are numerous but t h e r e are a l s o t o u r i s t s who do
e x p e r i e n c e new f e e l i n g s —who come t o some new
r e a l i z a t i o n of t h e i r r e l a t i o n to h i s t o r y when v i s i t i n g
c u l t u r e s other than t h e i r own, or o b s e r v i n g the monuments
of p a s t c u l t u r e s . Anew awareness of the c o m p l e x i t i e s and
t r o u b l e s of p a s t or f o r e i g n c u l t u r e s may c o n c e i v a b l y t u r n
the t o u r i s t s ' thoughts back to the c o m p l e x i t i e s of h i s
own c u l t u r e (1975:149).
I believe
possible
I have shown through anecdotal evidence t h a t i t
f o r the t o u r i s t s e l f
is
to experience change through
e t h n i c t o u r i s m . I have a l s o demonstrated through evidence
from
the f i e l d how indigenous people may respond t o t o u r i s m by
commoditizing c e r t a i n aspects of t h e i r c u l t u r e but I do not
51
b e l i e v e t h a t t h i s response fundamentally changes the
self.
native
In l i b e r a l c i r c l e s i t i s f a s h i o n a b l e t o view the
natives
as h a p l e s s v i c t i m s of e x p l o i t a t i o n by the t o u r i s t i n d u s t r y ,
however,
this
i s not so because the n a t i v e i s on home ground
and o f t e n makes use of t h a t f a c t
(van den Berghe 1980:379).
Moreover, as L o t h a r Nettekoven p o i n t s o u t ,
i n a c t u a l i t y there
are fewer encounters between t o u r i s t s and n a t i v e s than
is
g e n e r a l l y assumed and t h a t the i n t e r a c t i o n between the two
one of the l e a s t important i n f l u e n c e s
(1976:135). While i t
is
i n c u l t u r e change
i s t r u e t h a t commoditization of
indigenous c u l t u r e s does occur i n response t o t o u r i s m , i t does
not i n v a l i d a t e a c u l t u r e t h a t i s hundreds, i f not thousands,
of y e a r s o l d . "We m u s t . . . r e s i s t the temptation t o view
indigenous peoples as unable t o adapt and t o a s s i m i l a t e t o a
changing w o r l d . We cannot keep them as p r i s t i n e p e t s on
anthropological reservations"
(Nunez 1989:274). These c u l t u r e s
have been i n a c o n t i n u a l process of change throughout t h e i r
e n t i r e e x i s t e n c e and t h i s process of change w i l l c o n t i n u e
l o n g as they continue t o
Eventually,
change.
as
exist.
the power s t r u c t u r e i n P e r u v i a n s o c i e t y
will
In l e s s than 500 y e a r s , the mestizo c l a s s has come
i n t o b e i n g and now t o t a l s
approximately h a l f
of
the
p o p u l a t i o n . With the f o r c e s of g l o b a l i z a t i o n , i t w i l l
take
even l e s s time f o r f u r t h e r changes t o come about. A l s o ,
from w i t h i n the country are t r y i n g t o e f f e c t change.
forces
Between
52
1879 and 1965 t h e r e have been 32 Indian r e v o l t s
1993) ,
26
but d u r i n g my t r i p ,
far greater danger.
2 7
(Hudson
the Sendero Luminoso p r e s e n t e d a
Both German and Japanese t o u r i s t groups
had u n f o r t u n a t e encounters w i t h them and s t r o n g measures
were
b e i n g taken t o keep e v e r y t h i n g q u i e t so t h a t t o u r i s m would not
s u f f e r as a r e s u l t .
motion,
it
is
W i t h , t h e s e i n t e r n a l and e x t e r n a l f o r c e s
i n e v i t a b l e t h a t e v e n t u a l l y profound s o c i e t a l
changes are going to take p l a c e . At some p o i n t i n t h e i r
history,
future
the Indians may even be i n a p o s i t i o n of power t o
c o n t r o l those a s p e c t s of t o u r i s m which i n f l u e n c e t h e i r
and,
in
in effect,
lives
become l i k e the Amish of P e n n s y l v a n i a .
When was t r a v e l l i n g the h i g h l a n d highways, on t h r e e
o c c a s i o n s the road was blocked by burning t i r e s and r o c k
s l i d e s dynamited from the mountain s i d e s . The mestizo d r i v e r
of the van simply s a i d , "The peasants are not happy, they do
t h i s a l l the t i m e . "
2b
Between 1980-1990, 18,000 people were k i l l e d by the
Sendero Luminoso. T h e i r aim i s t o change the i l l s of p o v e r t y ,
i n e q u i t y and r a c i a l d i s c r i m i n a t i o n (Hudson 1993).
27
53
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