'Context, gestures, and smiles': investigating linguistic and cultural attitudes in Rick Steves's European phrasebooks. Issue 6 (2nd November 2021)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- 'Context, gestures, and smiles': investigating linguistic and cultural attitudes in Rick Steves's European phrasebooks. Issue 6 (2nd November 2021)
- Main Title:
- 'Context, gestures, and smiles': investigating linguistic and cultural attitudes in Rick Steves's European phrasebooks
- Authors:
- Lederman, Erica
- Abstract:
- ABSTRACT: This paper investigates linguistic and cultural attitudes found in tourist phrasebooks written by US travel writer and television host Rick Steves. Through a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of Steves's European phrasebook series, it is argued that Steves portrays English speaking tourists as the dominant party in tourist-local interactions and reassures his readers that their lack of foreign language ability will not be an impediment to their travels abroad. Through the use of stereotypical descriptive adjectives and the -plurals (e.g. The French), Steves positions European languages and their speakers as monolithic, homogeneous entities. Furthermore, Steves portrays multilingualism as an expected convenience to travelers rather than as an intellectual accomplishment. This research extends on previous studies which have explored the role tourist phrasebooks play as cultural mediators [Hallett, R. W. (2017). A taste of this lively language: attitudes towards languages other than English in Lonely Planet phrasebooks. Journal of Multicultural Discourses, 12(3), 214–230; Koch, E. (2015). Mediation as Worldmaking in Tourist Phrasebooks. Journal of Language, Literature, and Culture, 62(2), 63–76]. The findings in this research will help future phrasebook authors avoid certain types of misleading or even offensive language which may deter travelers who are interested in more authentic travel experiences.
- Is Part Of:
- Journal of tourism and cultural change. Volume 19:Issue 6(2021)
- Journal:
- Journal of tourism and cultural change
- Issue:
- Volume 19:Issue 6(2021)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 19, Issue 6 (2021)
- Year:
- 2021
- Volume:
- 19
- Issue:
- 6
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2021-0019-0006-0000
- Page Start:
- 838
- Page End:
- 850
- Publication Date:
- 2021-11-02
- Subjects:
- Tourist phrasebooks -- critical discourse analysis -- Rick Steves -- European languages -- American tourists
Tourism -- Periodicals
Heritage tourism -- Periodicals
306.481905 - Journal URLs:
- http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rtcc20/13/3 ↗
http://www.tandfonline.com/ ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1080/14766825.2020.1753755 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 1476-6825
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - 5069.704000
British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 25335.xml