The Tourist Gaze by Urry and Larsen - Article Example

INdividual assignment by The of the The of the School The and where it is located The Date Individual assignment One would make no mistake suggesting that living in a society should be considered to be an important prerequisite for the development of the human potential to its fullest. Indeed, if it had not been for this social platform, a considerable number of features that are considered to be characteristic to human being could not have emerged. In addition to that, visiting different societies may also be rather beneficial for the inner growth of a human being. All this leads to the peculiar role that tourism plays in lives of the people. This paper will provide reflection of The Tourist Gaze in which Urry and Larsen explore a similar concept. To begin with, it may be necessary to dwell on the very title. Thus, I was surprised to see the way in which the authors were able to connect the term medical gaze with tourism industry and come with tourist gaze – the fundamental concept for their research. It is quite obvious that the world of medicine and the world of tourism stand for different areas of the human activity. However, there is one essential similarity between them: they both try to provide a better understanding of the human nature. I liked this approach toward tourism industry a lot. Another point that should be mentioned is that the authors were quite insightful in their desire to analyze the concept in question from sociological point of view. Thus, the authors suggest that tourism might be seen as some kind of a deviant behavior. At first I could not understand this kind of thinking, but having read the explanation I saw that the researchers were right. Indeed, in the course of the year people usually go to work and are involved in their daily routine. However, the act of travelling presupposes that they do not work at all and that they organized their day in a completely different manner. In other words, people over think about deviant acts as of something that is condemned by the society, but in reality it this term might be applied to any action that challenges the conventional way of living. The authors also argue that the role which is played by tourism as well as the behavior which is performed by people heavily relies on their cultural background. Indeed, I think that it is important to keep in mind that when people visit other countries they represent their native culture which can be seen in small details. For example, some tourists like taking pictures of the sites, others – pictures of themselves and others take pictures of small details of everyday life. These differences are easily observable, but only the authors in question were able to place a significant emphasis on them. It was extremely useful for me to learn that the society also perceives the tourists in a special way. In other words, it treats them not as ordinary citizens, but people who operate within a different framework and live according to different rules of social environment. I am strongly convinced that this peculiar connection is something that should be studied on a deeper level in order to shed even more light on the peculiarities of the human nature. Prior to the reading, I thought that the idea of tourism might be seen in one dimension only; however, I was surprised to see that the authors were able to come up with nine definitions of tourism. Indeed, each of these definitions highlights a particular part of this concept and shows that this is an extremely complex concept that should be analyzed from various points of view in order to gain a correct understanding of it. I strongly agree with one of the key idea which were articulated by the authors, namely that being engaged in travelling should be seen as a part of modern lifestyle. Indeed, the advancements in transportation significantly increased the comfort and effectiveness of travelling and decreased the price, making it affordable to anyone. The author go as far as saying that nowadays not having an experience abroad is similar to not having a such an essential elements as a car. In spite of the fact that I think that this is somewhat exaggerated comparison, but it surely reflects the important role that this kind of activity plays in the contemporary lifestyle. I particularly like the fact that the authors also engaged some historical considerations in order to increase the objectivity of their analysis. Thus, it was pointed out that at first travelling was perceived as an activity which only the elite could afford. The author point out to the state of affairs which existed in the Ancient Rome when travelling was an important part of life of the wealthiest citizens, while others could only dream about this. Indeed, this can be explained by the dangers that the tourist faced while being on their journey as well as lack of effective means of transportation. The next step in the development of tourism is when this industry was closely connected to religious activities. The authors show that in the Medieval Ages pilgrimages to the sacred cities were the most popular kind of tourism. I think that they were able to highlight the development of tourism in the correct way as the nature of the social environment is constantly changing this is often reflected in the way people perceive the world as well as their place in it. Having examined all the points which were brought up in the paragraphs above, one might suggests that Urry and Larsen were able to develop a peculiar point of view on one of the most characteristic phenomenon which is observed in the modern society. They could show that tourism is an activity what can be seen from different perspectives and is able to tell a lot about the nature of the people who are being engaged in it. In addition to that, historical aspect should also be taken into consideration while thinking about the role that tourism plays in the human civilization in general. Read More