Sorry for the long post, here are my images for the slide. In the interest of not saying everything that is written on the slides I've kept them visual.


Slide 1

Slide 2

Slide 3

Slide 4

Slide 5

[IMG]http://i40.tinypic.com/1exkm1.jpg[/IMG]

Nope, I'm not done yet!

Hi again. It occurred to me that it might be interesting/useful if you guys could also point out some of the recurring and iconic terms used in these ads and brochures in conjunction with the images. These words often back up the "unchanged/unrestrained/uncivilized" myths you'll be talking about in relation to the video and any stills you choose to include.

Here's a sampling:

• getaway
• paradise
• all-inclusive
• fantasy
• dream
• picturesque
• undiscovered
• untouched
• pristine
• unspoiled
• lush greenery/vegetation
  
• groomed
• natural
• exotic ("flora and fauna" and locals)
• quaint
  
• lively
• playground
  
• secluded
• private
• relaxing
• safe
  
• spectacular landscape/beach/views, etc.
  
• riches
• treasure
• charming
• handicrafts
• handmade
• luxurious
• unlimited luxury
  
• service
• breathtaking
• elegant
• mysterious
• fascinating
• ancient
• deluxe
• comfort
• upscale
• club
  
• unique
• "ecological setting" (!!)
• sophisticated
• tranquil
• privileges
• colourful
• romantic
• "friendly and helpful," attentive, eager to please, courteous (staff)
• plentiful
• magical
• exclusive
• authentic
• retreat
• clean, spotless
  
• pampering
• beach/pool butler (!!)
• lavish
• personalized
• modern
• heavenly

Question: What tourist anxieties, desires, and identities do these words and images attempt to address?

Suggestions for ad analysis

Hi, Mohammad and Kailen. I'd like to make a few suggestions and recommendations re: your analysis of the Mexico Tourism ad next week that I hope might be helpful. I think it would be good to start off by talking about the theories and categories that you'll be using to pick apart the imagery in the ad before you actually show it. I would also suggest making up some slides that list these categories and show them as you describe them and before you play the ad. That way the rest of the class can actually "play along" as they watch and keep an eye out for the items you've mentioned.

So these theories, etc., should include the material that Alexis described in the original blog post; i.e., looking for examples of the three un-myths perpetuated in tourism-media: the myth of the unchanged, the myth of the unrestrained, and the myth of the uncivilized (From Echtner and Prasad (2003)*: *see full citation below

• The Unchanged: destinations as firmly fixed in the past; built structures are characterized as extravagant and exotic, and are surrounded by mysterious legends...the people...are characterized by their enduring peasant simplicity. Never allowed to change, they remain relics for the pleasure of tourists” (Echtner & Prasad, 699); [this myth] polarizes the West and the Rest into changed–unchanged, modern–ancient, and advancing–decaying” (Caton, 194)
• >> Look for: “either ancient or historic structures or ruins or pristine landscapes featuring few, if any, human-made structures” and “....hosts either wearing traditional, ethnically distinct clothing and accessories or bearing props that clearly mark them as “ethnic” and “traditional.” In addition, hosts are frequently shown participating in traditional, ethnically distinct activities.,,” (Caton, 201, 198)
• 
  
• The Unrestrained: presentation of [primarily island] destinations “as luxuriant natural paradises, where sensuous, exotic, and entertaining people were happily waiting to cater to every tourist need...the presentation of hosts...as submissive and servitude, ‘resurrects...relationships between former colonizers and colonized,...between master and servant’ (Echtner, p. 674).” (Caton, 194)
• >> Look for: “[individuals who] look happy, pleasant, and welcoming. They are smiling, laughing, or making a gesture of greeting.” (Caton, 199) Also any guest–host interactions that suggest providing a service, reinforcing the master–servant binary.
• 
  
• The Uncivilized: “untouched and untamed”...landscapes portrayed [as] savage, covered with inhospitable and bizarre vegetation that harbors rare, often dangerous animals” (Echtner & Prasad p. 675). Such representations of the uncivilized allow for discourses that feature those “inhabiting these areas [to be] distinguished by their tribal features and unpredictable dispositions”....such depictions echo a “highly nostalgic version of the era of colonial exploration” (Echtner & Prasad, p. 675), by presenting destinations as exotic, primordial, and untamed, awaiting “discovery” by Western tourists. Thus, such un- myths reinforce binaries of advanced–primitive, civilized–uncivilized, controlled–untamed, and self-reliant–dependent on others for advancement. (Caton, 194)
• >> Look for: “beyond the furthest frontiers of civilization (untouched and untamed). . . . The landscapes portrayed [were] supposedly savage, covered with inhospitable and bizarre vegetation that harbors rare, often dangerous animals NOTE: I think you are less likely to find examples of this category in this ad, but I might include any e.g.’s of encounters with wildlife and side trips to jungle-like settings (see related images from the brochures).

* Echtner, C., & Prasad, P. (2003). “The Context of Third World Tourism Marketing.” Annals of Tourism Research, 30(3), 660-682.

To keep things to a reasonable length, I would probably suggest choosing only one or two examples from the video of each of the "un-myth" categories, and doing an analysis of those. How to do that? Here's some specifics from the same article by Caton, about how they analyzed some brochure images:

• As Barthes (1972) argues, images have a denotative and a connotative component. Denotation involves interpreting the basic, widely shared, descriptive (or “manifest”) meaning of a sign. For example, the denotative meaning of an image in the SAS brochure might be something like this: two Vietnamese women wearing cotton clothing, non la hats, and no shoes transport two white, female SAS students wearing shorts and t-shirts across a river in a wooden rowboat.
• Alternatively, connotation involves interpreting the sign that has been identified through denotation within a larger language of cultural symbolism (which Barthes refers to as a “metalanguage”). Thus, we can infer one or more of several potential denotative (or “latent”) meanings in a given image. In the case of the photo mentioned above, one latent meaning is that SAS students (the subjects, who are central in the photo’s frame) are exploring the world, having novel cultural experiences such as riding in a simple, low-tech Vietnamese rowboat, a service that is provided by peripheral Vietnamese transportation providers (who do not actually qualify as full subjects in the photo, as one’s face is shaded by her non la hat, and the other is shown from the back and is only halfway visible in the frame)." (Caton, 198)
• "In this study, identifying the manifest and latent meaning of each image was done by asking questions such as the following: What is going on in this picture on a literal level? What is the subject of the picture? What does the subject look like? What is the subject doing? What are the activities being undertaken? What sort of reality does the picture construct and how does it do so? How does it seek to naturalize its perspectives? What assumptions does it make about its readers?" (Caton, 197)

This should give you lots to play with. I think if you can toss around a few of these concepts, your analysis will dovetail well with our overall discussion of tourism in the Caribbean as generally reflecting a Western, neocolonial ideology. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me via this blog or my Gmail address. I will also send you both a message to let you know I've posted this. Were you both able to access the Flickr images?

TTFN,
Jane

Flickr uploads

Hi, all. Please note that I have just uploaded a number of images to a new Flickr page that you should all have been "invited" to. The images are divided into sets per the analysis categories listed below in Alexis's original presentation plan.

If you don't receive your invitation, or if you have any problems re: the images, please let me know.

Mohammad, I'm not sure this is the best way to transfer these files to you for inclusion in the presentation slide show; are you able to download them from Flickr at a usable size, or is there a better way? I had them with me at class yesterday, but unfortunately you were apparently wearing your cloak of invisibility. :-<

More shortly, J.

Mexico's Image Discussed on CBC's The National, March 5

Hi, groupies. Here's a segment from The National tonight re: Mexico's recent problems. Alexis, I thought you might be interested in, or even be able to use, some of this. In particular, check out the section at about 12:20 on Mazatlan, and the interview with the Canadians at about 14:00.

Cheers!

J.

My Two Cents

Hi, all. This is fantastically helpful, Alexis, thanks! And thanks, too, for setting up the blog.

I hope everybody is enjoying Reading Week. I just wanted to stop by our blog briefly and add that I'm gathering some books for more context about our topic and will try to post info from them that may also be helpful to you in your analysis, etc.

One of these ideas is that of the "tourist gaze," and another is that of "the Other," which I'm hoping to tie in to some of the consumer motivations stuff we've been reading about in class. I think we'll need to make links between these very cool topics re: tourism and selling a destination, and the theoretical stuff re: consumption we've covered.

I will make some more detailed notes once I have the rest of the books in my hot little hands. Talk to you soon,

J.

Hi guys,

So far here is how the presentation is breaking down. Here is what group members will be responsible for:

Breakdown

Part 1 = Jane/Alexis (5 mins)
Part 2 = Jane (5 mins)
Part 3 = Mohammad, other group members (5 mins x each group member)
Part 4 = Alexis (5 minutes)
TOTAL: 20 - 30 mins
Presentation: Mohammad has awesomely offered to put together the slide show, bonus: he's in graphic design

1) short raising-hands survey about which students in the class have traveled, what were they looking for when they traveled, what types of images resonated with them (excitement, relaxation, etc.)

2) Origins of tourism. How colonialists used images of excitement and exoticism to promote travel to the Caribbeans when travel was still considered very dangerous.

3) Deconstructing the advertisement, looking at tourism advertisement for Mexico and discussing the ways in which it is neocolonialist (see below for useful points you will want to talk about)

4) What happens when reality impedes on fantasy: Mexico's current reputation for being dangerous, how their current PR campaign ties into the first segment; how the media has constructed two binary definitions of mexico, "Good" and "Bad".

Part 3: Deconstructing the Advertisement

You guys are responsible for dividing this section up amongst yourselves into two or three 5 minute segments (depending on how many extra group members there are).

Writer Kelly Caton writes in her paper Images of the Other: Selling Study Abroad in a Post Colonial World that there are three unmyths perpetuated in tourism-media, the myth of the Unchanged, the myth of the Unrestrained and the myth of the Uncivilized:

o   Unchanged: destinations firmly fixed in the past; built structures are characterized as extravagant and exotic, surrounded by mysterious legends never allowed to change, they remain relics for the pleasure of tourists; polarizes West and the Rest into changed/unchanged, modern/ancient, advanced/decaying

o   Unrestrained: presentation of destinations as luxuriant natural paradises, where sensuous, exotic and entertaining people were happily waiting to cater to every tourist need; submission and servitude, resurrects relationships b/t former colonizers and colonized, master/servant (Caton, 294)

o   Uncivilized: landscapes portrayed as savage, covered with inhospitable and bizarre vegetation that harbors rare, often dangerous animals; highly nostalgic version of the era of colonial exploration; by presenting destinations as exotic, primordial and untamed, awaiting “discovery” by Western tourists (Caton, 294)

Watch the advertisement - how does it perpetuate these unmyths? For instance, how does an image of Mexico's indigenous people perpetuate the Unmyth of Mexico remaining Unchanged? Are there images of waiters, hostesses, etc. in the advertisement and if so how does this perpetuate the Unmyth of Mexico being Unrestrained? Does the relationship between Mexican people whose job it is to serve and cater to tourists and the tourists themselves recreate the colonialist master/slave relationship in a contemporary setting?

First post!

Hey guys,

This is our group blog. Send me your email to be added as an admin, that way you can post!

Here is the advertisement we are going to deconstruct:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/xiQcXWACYd4

Alexis