1st Edition
Tourists at the Taj Performance and Meaning at a Symbolic Site
By Tim Edensor
Copyright 1998
234 Pages
by
Routledge
240 Pages
by
Routledge
240 Pages
by
Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
Clearly written and fascinatingly illustrated, Tourists at the Taj describes the conflicting narratives which surround the site. For some the Taj is an evocative symbol of the colonial past. For others it is a symbolic centre of Islamic power. For many of the thousands of tourists that visit it each year it is simply a monument of love.
The author shows how tourism can be seen as a performance and the tourist site as a stage on which tourists are directed and rehearsed but also able to improvise their own cultural rituals.
Introduction 1 Constructing tourist space 2 The regulation of tourist space 3 Narratives of the Taj Mahal 4 Walking, gazing, photographing and remembering at the Taj 5 Enclavic and heterogenous tourist spaces in Agra 6 Tourist plans for Agra and the Taj 7 Conclusion
Biography
Tim Edensor is lecturer and researcher in the department of cultural studies at Staffordshire University. He has researched extensively in tourist practices and popular culture.