Pyramids and Nightclubs: Egyptian tourism, authenticity, and identity
This week’s topic brought to mind Lisa Wynn’s 2007 book on tourism in Egypt. Though it was written some time ago, I believe it is still relevant today when considering the connections between tourism and the production of authenticity. Wynn particularly focuses on the role of performance in this process, and the differences between front-stage/back-stage presentations of life in Egypt. She also talks about how multiple ‘Egypts’ come into being, following the different imaginaries of it that are constructed by different visitors, depending on their origin. What is of interest as well is Wynn’s discussion of how these discourses are then reified, rejected or contested by Egyptians themselves.
https://utpress.utexas.edu/books/wynpyr
Contributed by YaraTarabulsi on 13/02/2018
