MÓDULO FORMATIVO 2: CONTROL DE CALIDAD DE PRODUCTOS TEXTILES Y ARTÍCULOS CONFECCIONADOS

Despite a growing literature it is evident that there is difficulty in defining dark tourism.

This chapter has examined the work of Lennon and Foley (2000); Sharpley and Stone

(2006); Miles (2005); Tunbridge and Ashworth (1996) and Seaton (1996) amongst

others. It has looked at their definitions and typologies and discussed the difficulty

with establishing a recognisable definition and a workable typology. Some definitions

such as Sharpley and Stone (2006) suggest that dark tourism is motivation to see death

and the macabre. Lennon and Foley (2000) argue that dark tourism is a matter of

chronological distance, whilst Seaton (1996) argues that thanatourism has always been

part of human behaviour; and Tunbridge and Ashworth (1996) are mostly concerned

with management issues such as interpretation. Occasionally the same author has

contradicted himself, such as Lennon in a joint chapter with Seaton (2004). Other

and his Bonnie and Clyde example and Strange and Kempa (2003) and their prison

examples, without establishing which definition if any they are working from. Stone and Sharpley’s (2006) dark tourism matrix and dark tourism spectrum also contradict

each other.

It is not possible to go through each genre of tourism and discuss if they all fall under

the established dark tourism definitions to date, however, this chapter has discussed

some of the types of tourism that are typically used when dark tourism is discussed.

Examples include prisons, theme parks (dark fun factories), battlefields and cemeteries

and sites of genocide and mass murder. As demonstrated, it has been difficult to place

many of these examples under most of the established typologies and dark tourism

definitions, therefore making any typology problematic and incomplete.

Many academics have hinted that research into motivations and experiences is what is mostly lacking, ‘there remains further scope for further empirical research, especially

qualitative in-depth study of motivations and experiences’ (Dunkley, Morgan and

Westwood, 2011:867; Light 2017). Podoshen and Hunt (2011:1334) claim that the literature to date has ‘largely been explored from the supply perspective in the existing

literature and that a better understanding of consumption oriented motivations and experience is needed’. Even Sharpley (2009) acknowledges that the theoretical

perspective is largely descriptive and that not much is revealed about the nature of the demand side, ‘in particular, limited attention has been paid to exploring why tourists

may be drawn towards sites of experiences associated with death and suffering’

It could be concluded that the problem with the definitions and typologies is the general

lack of deep research into motivations. An insight into motivations to see sites

associated with death could potentially lead to a more widely accepted definition and a

dark tourist typology. The next chapter will examine some possible factors that might

inspire travellers to visit dark sites. It will evaluate some psychology literature in an

attempt to establish if visiting such sites is an example of human behaviour that has

deep psychological roots. Additionally, it will discuss if the media and other factors

Chapter Two - The Strange Allure of Death and the

Macabre

‘Not to laugh, not to lament, not to curse, but to understand’. Spinoza (1632-1677)

2.0 Introduction

Chapter two explores the theories that our fascination with death and the macabre stem

from deep survival instincts, and also discusses some possible psychological theories. Later on in the chapter subjects such as the media, children’s literature and the role of

violent sports are discussed and an attempt is made to link these subjects to external

factors as to why we are fascinated with violence and the macabre. Finally, it concludes

that there may be a mixture of reasons that explain our fascination with death and

violence, and in turn could help explain motivations for visiting dark tourism sites.

The fascination with homicide and the macabre goes far beyond the practical. The story

lines are a staple of art and literature and a subject for both drama and comedy. The

crime of murder is a most fundamental taboo and also, perhaps, a most fundamental

human impulse.

Thurnell-Read (2009:27) puzzles over the appeal of dark tourism, when referring to visiting Auschwitz he asks, ‘what do individuals find so enticing about such a macabre

attraction?’ He suggests that the appeal of such sites for tourists seems somewhat

peculiar as many people who visit have no direct connection to the Holocaust, being

neither German, Jewish, Polish. He further asks, ‘is Holocaust tourism not simply morbid voyeurism?’ Thurnell-Read (2009:27). Kastenbaum (2000) suggests that many

Rhoads (2009) argues that curiosity is the single most important attribute with which

humans are born. Curiosity is a powerful tool, like a scalpel or a searchlight. It allows

us to look at something as abstract as behavioural patterns or as grand as history: to

study it, to dissect it and marvel over its component parts. Curiosity changes us and is

also a way to effect change, perhaps even at a global level (Rhoads, 2009).

We are endlessly curious and fascinated with murder. Often homicide and acts of death

and violence are sources of entertainment. We wonder why people kill and are intrigued

by the ways in which the deed is accomplished. Human beings are the only inhabitants

on Earth that deliberately inflict cruelty on others without any apparent gain (Kottler

2011). According to Goldstein (1998) people voluntarily expose themselves to, and

often search out, images of violence. In the real world, there is in fact a practical duty

we share in understanding the means and the motivations for crime and violence.

Understanding is necessary for prediction, prevention and protection (Kottler, 2011).

Kottler (2011:21) also argues that the human race paradoxically relishes the idea of

deliberately inflicting pain and cruelty on others as well as holding a capacity for

compassion and altruism. He goes on to explain that this conundrum at first troubled

Sigmund Freud, though, Aristotle, Marquis de Sade and eventually Freud all argued

that humans are sadists at heart.