Places of traumatic memory and tourism: Analytical and problematic paradigms

Abstract

Since the final third of the twentieth century, sites related to painful or traumatic memories have developed tourism strategies that have, in more than one case, turned them into primary tourist attractions. This article conducts a theoretical study that examines and presents the main analytical paradigms developed at the academic level for research on tourism in places that have witnessed traumatic events. Due to their academic importance and relative media presence, Dark tourism, Thanatourism and Memorial tourism, are more prevalent than other theoretical and analytical approaches. Some of the problems arising from the processes of turning traumatic memory into a tourist attraction are also examined, taking as a case study the memory of the Holocaust and its reference site, the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial. The article concludes that there is a need to continue reflecting on these debates, since they present a complexity that augurs a long journey that will surely continue to provide academia with contributions that define the role of different paradigms.