 The
native inhabitant does have a role here but it is usually as an exotic extra, adding a bit of spice to the monotonous round of family occasions and the
endless series of Christmas celebrations. The cultures visited are assessed as safe, adventurous or dangerous before the journey is undertaken. “The more exotic a country is, the more dangerous,” said a representative of the travel agents’
association in a radio interview discussing one tourist hostage taking scenario in the Philippines, “everybody knows that.”
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 This
engagement with partial aspects of cultures, imposing Western cultural meanings on others is a similar mechanism to that involved in the formation and
maintenance of stereotypes.
I’m not suggesting here that this mechanism can be avoided, but proposing that by making it visible as a discursive area in art work,
alternative meanings (both social and personal) may be inscribed on the image and the process of making it. |
