ARC: Connections: ELMAR: Posting

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This is a call for expressions of interest for chapter submissions for an edited book entitled ‘Popularising and Politicising Place: Dark Tourism and Place Identity around the World’.

Interested authors are invited in the first instance to send an abstract of around 500 words to the editors Dr Leanne White and Dr Elspeth Frew by 31 March, 2011.

Please send abstracts by email to leannek.white@vu.edu.au and e.frew@latrobe.edu.au

At this stage a publisher has expressed interest in publishing this book. They will make their decision after reviewing a final proposal including the proposed chapters. It is envisaged that completed chapters would be submitted by 31 December, 2011.

Chapters will be a maximum of 6,000 words (not including references). Chapters must not have been published or submitted elsewhere.

Further details:

Popularising and Politicising Place: Dark Tourism and Place Identity around the World’. Edited by Leanne White (Victoria University, Australia) and Elspeth Frew (La Trobe University, Australia).

This edited volume will explore the interpretation and management of contemporary and historic sites associated with death, disaster and atrocity. The book will reflect on the contribution made by such sites to place identity and introduces a conceptual model for the examination of place identity and dark tourism.

The intersecting domains of dark tourism and place identity have been largely overlooked in the academic literature to date and this complex relationship between the two domains (and indeed, the multifaceted strategies used to define that relationship) is a subject worthy of attention. By understanding dark tourist sites through the lens of place identity, the tourist may develop a deeper appreciation of the destination. Thus, this edited volume proposes a composite model for discussing place identity and dark tourism that advances current understanding of these two areas.

Visitation to places such as murder sites, battlefields and cemeteries, is often referred to as ‘dark tourism’ (Lennon and Foley, 2000). Such sites represent a range of events including: natural and accidental disasters, group atrocities, wars, large-scale killings or massacres and, genocide (Tunbridge and Ashworth, 1996). Although dark tourism is not a new phenomenon, there has been a recent emerging scholarly interest in more closely researching and analysing this specific area of tourism (see, for example, Sharpley and Stone, 2009). Dark tourism has also been recognised as a growing phenomenon in the twenty-first century from both a demand and supply perspective (for instance the motives of visitors to sites and, the provision of on-site interpretation and visitor facilities).

This book aims to: explore the physical and intangible legacies of historic and contemporary dark tourism sites, to explore the contribution such sites make to place identity. The book will combine an applied practitioner approach with solid academic analysis and critical input.

References

Lennon, J., & Foley, M. (2000). Dark tourism: The attraction of death and disaster. London, England: Continuum.

Sharpley, R., & Stone, P. R. (2009) (Eds.). The darker side of travel: The theory and practice of dark tourism. Bristol, England: Channel View Publications.

Tunbridge, J. E., & Ashworth, G. J. (1996). Dissonant heritage: The management of the past as a resource in conflict. Chichester, England: John Wiley and Sons.
 

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Dr Leanne White is a Lecturer in the School of International Business, and a research associate in the Centre for Tourism and Services Research at Victoria University, Australia. Her research interests include: national identity, advertising, commercial nationalism, Australian popular culture, and cultural tourism. Leanne is the author of 18 book chapters, along with a number of refereed journal articles and conference proceedings.

Dr Elspeth Frew is a Senior Lecturer in Tourism Management in the School of Management and a research associate in the Tourism and Hospitality Research Unit (THRU) at La Trobe University in Australia. Elspeth’s research interest is in cultural tourism, with a particular focus on festival and event management and, arts and entertainment.

Tourism and National Identities: An International Perspective (edited by Elspeth Frew and Leanne White) will be published by Routledge next month.

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