TOURISM, HYBRIDITY, AND AMBIGUITY - THE RELEVANCE OF BHABHA 3RD-SPACECULTURES

This paper critiques the contribution which Bhabha (1994) has recently made to cultural theoretical thought on historical and temporal forms of ethnicity under the postcolonial moment. Since tourism is frequent ly dubbed the business of 'difference' and 'the other', par excellence , it synthesises not only what tourism researchers can learn from Bhab ha's powerful contemporary analyses of identity and alterity, but also how Bhabha could fruitfully explore tourism as an important 'location ' for cultural production and emergent belonging. In interpreting Bhab ha's highly problematic notions (such as 'hybridity', 'ambiguity', and 'interstitial culture'), the paper challenges the field of tourism st udies to develop more vigorous interrogations of the everday performat ive activities which tend, ethnocentrically, to essentialise people, p laces, and pasts through tourism.