Anthropology of Tourism in Central and Eastern Europe

Sabina Owsianowska is assistant professor in the Department of the Theory of Leisure and Tourism at the University of Physical Education in Krakow and lecturer at Jagiellonian University.Magdalena Banaszkiewicz is assistant professor in the Institute of Intercultural Studies at Jagiellonian University and lecturer at Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Krakow University.

This unique and fascinating collection is a valuable contribution to the Anthropology of Tourism and to cultural anthropological studies more generally with scholarship that developed at a time when the possibilities of cross-border exchanges between countries behind the so-called Iron Curtain and those in the West, either for tourists or academics, were limited. Bringing together scholars from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) with those from Western Europe and the United States the book brings fresh insights into issues relating to, among others, heritage, urban exploration, gender, globalization, handicrafts and food and alcohol related tourism. Drawing on examples from both within and outside the CEE the volume utilizes tourism as a tool to understand cultural and economic processes that not only enrich debates in the study of tourism but also gives voice to scholars from CEE to make contribution to developments in the discipline of anthropology. Using the bridge as a metaphor the book is not only grounded on developing links between CEE and the Anglophone world of scholarship but ends with a request to build upon and further the foundations the volume has laid out for us. At a time when identity politics is on the rise and we seem to be seeing the pulling across of new ‘Iron Curtains’ the invitation to walk across the bridge appears ever more urgent and makes this book essential reading for us all.

• Foreword by Michal Buchowski Part I: Bridging Academic Worlds: An Insider-Outsider’s Perspective Introduction: Anthropological Studies on Tourism in Central and Eastern Europe by Magdalena Banaszkiewicz and Sabina OwsianowskaChapter 1: Inside and Outside the Anglophone Snake – Alterities and Opportunities by Nelson GraburnPART 2: Anthropology and Tourism: Relationships in Theory and PracticeChapter 2: The Sarajevo Library, the Mostar Bridge, and Anthropology of Travel, Tourism and Pilgrimage by Tom SelwynChapter 3: Engaging with the Hosts and Guests: Some Methodological Reflections on the Anthropology of Tourism by Maarja KaaristoChapter 4: A Map or a Calendar? Travelers’ Imaginary and a Travel Framework (The Case of Poland Following the Economic and Political Transformation) by Anna WieczorkiewiczChapter 5: At a Crossroads of Cognition. Travels of Philosophy and Philosophy of Travels by Maria ZowisloChapter 6: Traveling and Politics. A Reflection on the Russian Tourism in the Past and Today by Magdalena BanaszkiewiczChapter 7: Mediating Central and Eastern Europe in Tourism Discourse by Sabina OwsianowskaPart III: Anthropological Inspirations in Tourism Studies: From the Workshop of Central and Eastern European ResearchersChapter 8: Here Come the Barbarians. Perceptions of Alcotourism in Golden Sands, Bulgaria by Carla Bethmann Chapter 9: Making Tourists Engaged by Vulnerable Communities in India by Natalia Bloch Chapter 10: “Tasting East?” Food in Polish Travel Accounts from Russia: Encounters, Sensual Experience and Cultural Discourses by Agata Bachórz Chapter 11: “Let’s Make Laces in the Garden.” Creative Tourism in Rural Poland by Anna Sznajder and Katarzyna Kosmala Chapter 12: Towards Interpretative City Guiding. New Approaches and Services on the Example of Selected European Cities by Armin Mikos von RohrscheidtChapter 13: Urban Exploration as an “Interior Tourism.” Contemporary Ruins behind the “Iron Curtain” by Malgorzata Nieszczerzewska Chapter 14: Recalling the Ruins of the Socialist Modernity. Touring Lost Places in Yugoslavia between Private Search of Identity and Cultural Heritage Tourism by Michael ZinganelChapter 15: The “Kodak Girl” on a Trip. Tourist Women from Polish Galicia in Family Photographs of 1910s–1930s by Malgorzata RadkiewiczAfterword: Bridging Worlds: Opportunities and Challenges by Sabina Owsianowska and Magdalena Banaszkiewicz