Los Caminos de Sefarad
This article examines the historical narratives inscribed in the material fabric of historic Jewish neighborhoods along a contemporary Jewish tourist route in Spain. Through an analysis of the guidebook, Paths of Sepharad, I explore the representation of Sephardic history and culture with respect to...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Spanish |
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Universidad Complutense de Madrid
2006-01-01
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| Series: | Revista de Antropología Social |
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| Online Access: | http://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/RASO/article/view/10366 |
| Summary: | This article examines the historical narratives inscribed in the material fabric of historic Jewish neighborhoods along a contemporary Jewish tourist route in Spain. Through an analysis of the guidebook, Paths of Sepharad, I explore the representation of Sephardic history and culture with respect to the growing popularity of heritage tourism and the creation of public memory. On the one hand, establishing a Jewish tourist route responds to a shift in Spanish tourism policy, which seeks to diversify the country’s tourist offerings and capitalize on the widespread infatuation with the past. Paths of Sepharad thus aims to attract a new breed of tourist –the “post-tourist”– who is motivated by a nostalgic desire for fantasy, historical voyeurism, and cultural difference. On the other hand, the commemoration of Spain’s tolerant, multicultural past and the appropriation of Sephardic heritage as its own contribu- tes to the image of Spain as a modern, pluralist democracy and helps contain potentially subversive discourses of radical “otherness”. |
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| ISSN: | 1131-558X 1988-2831 |