Autoethnographic journeys through contested spaces. (September 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Shepherd, Jack; Laven, Daniel; Shamma, Linda
• Is Part Of: Annals of tourism research. Volume 84(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-09
• Subjects: Autoethnography -- Tourism -- Bethlehem -- Narrative entrapment -- Contested space -- Palestine; Tourism -- Periodicals
• DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2020.103004
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0160-7383

Abstract

Abstract: Stemming from a frustration with the rigidity of categories within tourism studies and their associated violence of finalization and narrative entrapment, this paper sets out to trouble the formation of tourist/m categories within the context of contested space. Using an evocative collaborative autoethnographic approach, three personal narratives are provided by three different tourists whose positionality attaches them to the contested space of Bethlehem, Palestine, in different ways. These narratives highlight the problems associated with trying to categorise tourist experiences in landscapes that speak very differently to different people. Furthermore, the paper demonstrates how the process of bringing together competing narratives of space through collaborative autoethnography can serve as a valid exercise in transformative dialogue. Highlights: A collaborative autoethnography of three tourists in Bethlehem, Palestine Reveals divergent experiences of contested space from three heritage perspectives Resists narrative entrapment of categorisation of tourism experience Collaborative autoethnography used as tool for transformative dialogue