Prison: Cultural Memory and Dark Tourism discusses decommissioned
Australian prisons currently or potentially functioning as tourist
attractions. In particular, it addresses a fundamental question: Do
the interpretations and presentations of the sites include and fairly
represent the personal stories and experiences associated with those
prisons? The author argues that the conventional understanding of most
of Australia’s historical prisons fosters a radical «othering» of
inmates, and with it the exclusion, distortion and historical neglect
of their narratives. This book examines avenues via which neglected
narratives may be glimpsed or inferred, presenting a number of
examples. This remedies the imbalance in some degree – and tests
such avenues’ potential as resources for inclusive interpretations
by public historians and curators. The book also focuses on the
influence of «celebrity prisoners», whose links to the penal system
are exploited as promotional features by the sites and in some cases
by the individuals themselves. Their narratives provide broad, if
unwitting, support for the system and for the othering of the more
general inmate population. The ramifications of the above with regard
to aspects of Australian identity mean that certain facets of the
«Australian character» traditionally held to be emblematic are
affected. These effects have subtle but tangible consequences for
modern Australians’ collective memory and deleterious consequences
for current popular attitudes to penal practice.
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Cultural Memory and Dark Tourism
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781453903599
Publisert
2019
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
Vendor
Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publishers
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter