Spectral touring: Subject, consumption, and the ̀wound́ of the photograph

Abstract

This paper takes as theme the notion of ̀touring consumption,́ and argues its case with reference to the field of ̀tourism studies.́ Let me commence in the way of reflecting on this placement. It might safely be argued that ̀tourism studieś have a defiantly inter-disciplinary make. As a field of knowledge it prompts a pulse of tension as it struggles to get a foothold in a realm where disciplinary boundaries are jealously kept, John Urry's founding text (Urry 1990) says as much. Tourism studies have also been a refuge for interdisciplinary travelers, for it potentially keeps a menacing force within itself, the force of asking questions that are general enough to encroach on other epistemic territories. The ̀touring subject́ may become a general description for the ̀subject as such,́ especially in the postmodern condition. But does this force of generality also not make it difficult for tourism studies to demarcate its own specificity as a discipline?.