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Accepted Paper:
On Display: from live human exhibits and early cinematic depictions of world cultures, to travelogues then and now and their legacy in contemporary tourism
Pegi Vail
(New York University)
Paper short abstract:
This paper traces the trajectory of cultural display, from early public exhibitions of humans in world fairs and museums to the cinematic representations of world cultures, popular travelogues and expedition films of the 20th century and their enduring influence on the contemporary tourism industry.
Paper long abstract:
This paper traces the trajectory of cultural display, from the public exhibitions of humans in world fairs and museum exhibits, facilitated by a nascent anthropology discipline, to the early cinematic representation of world cultures at the turn of the 19th century or the popular travelogue expedition formats of the 20th century. Early live exhibits and travelogues provided many people with their first glimpses of international cultures and often times still do through the importance of contemporary touristic performance and popular online travel photos and streamed content from the 21st century.
This enduring history of cultural display fuels one of the top economic industries of the contemporary world: tourism. The paper will frame the discussion by exploring the relationship between tourism and cultural exhibition in the context of colonialization, domination, and globalization.