The Reading Warehouse

Once content to sunbathe and follow guides and established itineraries, tourists are increasingly seeking authentic culture. This is taking them into the private areas and zones to which the locals retire in order to escape the tourist gaze, creating tensions between the two groups. Based on recent anthropological field studies, this book describes how European communities dependant on tourism have been affected by the commoditization of their culture and explores the ways they cope with the constant attention of outsiders. The collection demonstrates both varied and skillful ways in which individuals and communities react to and cope with the impact of decades of mass tourism on their lives and values, thus throwing new light onto questions of identity, boundary maintenance and cultural adjustment.

Jeremy Boissevain+ was Emeritus Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam where he taught from 1966 to 1993. His many activities included the directing of CARE programs in the Philippines, Japan, India and Malta and teaching appointments in Canada, the United States, England and Malta.