Framing the sublime as affect in post-disaster tourism. (November 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Martini, Annaclaudia; Sharma, Nitasha
• Is Part Of: Annals of tourism research. Volume 97(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-11
• Subjects: Dark tourism -- Post-disaster tourism -- Sublime -- Geographies of affect -- 3.11 -- Japan.; Tourism -- Periodicals
• DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2022.103473
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0160-7383

Abstract

Abstract: This article frames dark tourism experiences employing the geographical concept of sublime-as-affect. We contend that the sublime has features that allow us to analyse it as an affect, an intensity of feeling that circulates in-between bodies, which can be experienced poignantly in places of death, and lead to transformative experiences. By presenting accounts of tourism-related stakeholders in post-disaster Tohoku, Japan, devastated by an earthquake, a tsunami, and a nuclear meltdown, we overview moments in which the sublime-as-affect is experienced. Findings suggest that while the dilapidated and abandoned landscapes of Tohoku evoke a negative representation, they also demonstrate a potential for generating transformative affects, which can become a vehicle for meaning in post-disaster tourism encounters. Highlights: Dark tourism and geographies of affect are/can be connected by the concept of the sublime. The sublime can be considered an affect experienced in post-disaster tourism places. The sublime-as-affect in tourism is useful in framing negative representations and transformative affects. Sublime-as-affect's transformative potential can be harnessed for more empathetic and restorative post-disaster tourism.