Guest Editors:
Robert S. Bristow, Westfield State University, Massachusetts, US
Ian S. Jenkins, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland
Liminality has recently gained the growing attention from tourism scholars (Crouch, 2000; Preston-Whyte, 2004; Pritchard, & Morgan, 2006; Andrews & Roberts, 2012; Brooker & Joppe, 2014). The transitional time and space for the tourist experience is an important one to understand since it has a great impact on the overall encounter and experience. Yet the sheer nature of liminality is generally so abstract that only recently has research attempted to explore the relationship in tourism.
Liminality is anthropologically associated with Rites of Passage (van Gennep, 1960). Turner (1974) and Shields (2013) refined liminality as the movement from one stage to another. Similar to a tourist experience, the chance to break away from the norms of daily life is an important aspect of tourism. Liminality is a logical transition for tourists since they are leaving the comfort of home to travel crossing in time and space some threshold or boundary to some unknown experience. This frequently reflects the period and space in the anticipation and travel to and from different phases of the experience (Clawson and Knetsch, 1966; White and White, 2004; Light 2009; and Lew, 2012). Contemporary literature calls this the “transit zone” for purposes of differentiating experiences of travel from those on-site (Hunter & Shaw, 2007). Even the recollection stage of the experience may reflect a liminal experience (Goodnow & Ruddell, 2009).
Recent paper sessions presented during the American Association of Geographers (Boston 2017) and Royal Geographic Society with the Institute of British Geographers (Cardiff 2018) illustrate the growing body of literature on the theme of liminality and landscapes. This special issue of Tourism Geographies seeks to build on that research and presents an understanding of how liminality is experienced by the tourist.
For this special issue of Tourism Geographies, we invite papers that address liminality in tourism landscapes. For tourists there are many opportunities to ‘transit’ from one state to another. A classic example takes place in a hotel, where social norms are excused and atypical behavior may take place due to the anonymous nature of the tourist’s temporary visit (Pritchard & Morgan, 2006). Certain other landscapes challenge the visitor due to the anticipated experiences (Trudeau & McMorran, 2011; Mott & Roberts, 2014). The arts have also significantly contributed to a liminal experience (Jaimangal-Jones et al, 2010), and dark tourism landscapes have a marked edge in the experience (Lennon & Foley, 2000).
The Special Issue will address the research question of how do tourists observe and experience liminality. Addressing this question will provide a more holistic insight into the tourist experience. We invite papers that deal with aspects of liminal landscapes experienced by tourists including:
Urban, Rural and/or peripheral Landscapes
Dark Landscapes
Last Chance Landscapes
Marginalized Landscapes
Adventure Landscapes
Entertainment Landscapes
Diaspora Landscapes
Inspirational and Spiritual Landscapes
Health, Wellness and Medical Tourism
and others
References Cited
Andrews, H., & Roberts, L. (Eds.). (2012). Liminal landscapes: Travel, experience and spaces in-between. Routledge.
Brooker, E., & Joppe, M. (2014). Developing a tourism innovation typology: Leveraging liminal insights. Journal of Travel Research, 53(4), 500-508.
Clawson, M., & Knetsch, J. L. (1966). Economics of outdoor recreation. Washington, DC: Resources for the Future.
Crouch, D. (2000). “Places Around Us: Embodied Geographies in Leisure and Tourism.” Leisure Studies, 19 (1): 63–76.
Goodnow, J. M., & Ruddell, E. (2009). An illustration of the quest genre as spiritual metaphor in adventure travel narratives. Leisure/Loisir, 33(1), 241-267.
Hunter, C., & Shaw, J. (2007). The ecological footprint as a key indicator of sustainable tourism. Tourism Management, 28(1), 46-57.
Jaimangal‐Jones, D., Pritchard, A., & Morgan, N. (2010). Going the distance: locating journey, liminality and rites of passage in dance music experiences. Leisure Studies, 29(3), 253-268.
Lennon, J. J., & Foley, M. (2000). Dark tourism. Cengage Learning EMEA.
Lew, A. A. (2012). Tourism incognita: experiencing the liminal edge of destination places. Études caribéennes, (19).
Light, D. (2009). Performing Transylvania: Tourism, fantasy and play in a liminal place. Tourist Studies, 9 (3): 240-258.
Mott, C., & Roberts, S. M. (2014). Not everyone has (the) balls: Urban exploration and the persistence of masculinist geography. Antipode, 46(1), 229-245.
Preston-Whyte, R. (2004). The beach as a liminal space. In A. Lew, C. M. Hall, & A. Williams (Eds.), The Blackwell’s Tourism Companion (pp. 249–259). Oxford: Blackwell.
Pritchard, A., & Morgan, N. (2006). Hotel Babylon? Exploring hotels as liminal sites of transition and transgression. Tourism Management, 27(5), 762-772.
Shields, R. (2013). Places on the margin: Alternative geographies of modernity. Routledge.
Trudeau, D., & McMorran, C. (2011). The geographies of marginalization. In V. Del Casino, M. Thomas, P. Cloke, R. Panelli (Eds.), VA companion to social geography, (pp. 437-453). Wiley.
Turner, V. (1974). Liminal to liminoid, in play, flow, and ritual: an essay in comparative symbology. Rice Institute Pamphlet-Rice University Studies, 60(3).
Van Gennep, A. (1960). The rites of passage. University of Chicago Press.
White, N. R., & White, P.B. (2004). Travel as transition: Identity and place. Annals of Tourism Research, 31 (1), 200-218.
3. Timeline:
Abstract Submissions: May 31st, 2018
(250 words, 3-5 keywords noting the significance of each for a total of 500 words) Include a short biography for each author. The author guidelines and review process for
Tourism Geographies are found here <
http://www.tgjournal.com/notes-for-authors.html>.
Abstract Decisions: June 30th, 2018
Full Paper Submissions: September 31st, 2018
Revisions and Decisions: February 28th, 2019
Publication: June - December, 2019
Abstracts are to be submitted to the corresponding editor, Robert S. Bristow, using the email address
recgeog@gmail.com. State “TG Special Issue – Liminal Landscapes” in subject line.
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