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The tourist: a new theory of the leisure class

Article in Annals of Leisure Research · February 2014

DOI: 10.1080/11745398.2014.890513

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The tourist: a new theory of the leisure

class
a
David Scott
a
Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences, Texas
A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
Published online: 27 Feb 2014.

To cite this article: David Scott (2014): The tourist: a new theory of the leisure class, Annals of
Leisure Research, DOI: 10.1080/11745398.2014.890513

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 Annals of Leisure Research, 2014
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/11745398.2014.890513

CLASSIC BOOK REVIEW

The tourist: a new theory of the leisure class, by Dean MacCannell, New York,
Schocken Books Inc., 1976, 214 pp. (softbound), ISBN 0-0852-0529-2

First published in 1976, The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class, by Dean MacCannell,
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provides a compelling analysis of leisure in contemporary society and the changed nature of the
human condition amidst modernity. Although The Tourist is first and foremost a sociological
examination of the role and function of tourism in what some commentators call post-industrial
societies, MacCannell argues the tourist represents ‘one of the best models available
for modern-man-in-general’ (1). In this second sense of the term, the tourist is a metaphor
for moderns’ quest for meaning amidst the anxiety and inauthenticity of contemporary life.
As a point of departure, MacCannell argues that modernisation is characterized by social
structural differentiation. On the one hand, differentiation brings about freedom as it breaks
down hegemonic class divisions, race relations and gender roles. People in contemporary
societies are accorded choices and opportunities unavailable to individuals in more
traditional cultures. According to MacCannell, however, differentiation comes at a cost, as
it is a primary source for ‘contradiction, conflict, violence, fragmentation, discontinuity and
alienation that are such evident features of modern life’ (11). At the same time, traditional
ideas about what constitutes virtue and evil are increasingly contested. This leads to a major
premise: modernisation leads to deep-rooted feelings of instability and inauthenticity.
Moderns are faced with vexing questions about meaning and how they fit within the grand
scheme of things. As MacCannell notes, ‘Reality and authenticity are thought to be
elsewhere; in other historical periods and other cultures, in purer, simpler lifestyles’ (3).
This leads MacCannell to argue that sightseeing, in the broadest sense of the term, is
‘ritual performed to the differentiation of society … [and] a kind of collective striving for
a transcendence of the modern totality, a way of attempting to overcome the discontinuity
of modernity, of incorporating its fragments into unified experience’ (13). Tourism,
MacCannell opines, has arisen in step with a modern consciousness that is dislocated
from the past and traditional ways of doing things. Whereas religion and work once
provided a foundation for identity and meaning, identity and purpose are increasingly
sought in leisure. Individual acts of sightseeing are interpreted as acts of self-discovery as
tourists search for authenticity, significance and purpose.
Not surprisingly, travel to faraway sites is a major focus of MacCannell’s work. Tourist
destinations, or public places more generally, ‘embody the representations of good and evil
that apply universally to modern man in general’ (40). MacCannell assumes authenticity and
traditional ways of life could be glimpsed in faraway places that had not yet been ravaged by
modernisation. Travel to remote locations, particularly those felt to be primitive and historic,
provides tourists a glimpse of the ‘real life’ of others. Experiences like this ostensibly help
tourists better understand themselves and their place in society.
Yet MacCannell understands that modernisation is so ubiquitous that even remote
places and people are not immune to its effects. Indeed, its effects have not slackened
 2 Classic Book Review

since the publication of The Tourist. The Internet, cell phones, fast food restaurants and
western apparel have made their appearance in far-flung destinations and have made it
increasingly difficult for tourists to discern authentic patterns of life. Tourism providers
recognize the tensions surrounding modernisation and, in the words of MacCannell, go to
extremes to stage authenticity to ensure that tourists experience the ‘real life’ of the
locals. Many tourists recognize that performances are staged and may even feel cheated.
Yet many of them, according to MacCannell, remain certain that authenticity exists
beyond staged performances and remain ever hopeful that they will happen upon bona
fide locals doing what locals are supposed to do.
The tourist, however, is not a mere sightseer travelling to remote places in search of
authentic lifestyles. As noted, MacCannell sees the tourist as a metaphor for modern people’s
quest for meaning and identity and this quest infuses leisure in contemporary society. Acts of
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self-discovery extend to the social groups and social worlds to which people gravitate. A
case in point is the worldwide fascination with reality television. Viewers are invited to
watch seemingly ordinary people act in relatively unscripted situations. Followers of reality
television are tourists to the extent they believe that the characters and action on the shows
they watch embody authentic lifestyles that are distinct from their everyday experience.
People’s search for meaning and authenticity is relatively unfettered by traditional
social class ties and cleavages. In this way, MacCannell’s ideas represent a dramatic shift
away from Veblen’s strict emphasis on social class as a primary organizer of social life.
According to MacCannell, people in contemporary society are ‘released from primary
family and ethnic group responsibilities’ and increasingly coalesce ‘around world views
provided by cultural productions’ (30). The cult movie, The Rocky Horror Picture Show,
is a colourful example of a cultural production where traditional ideas about boundary
maintenance are permeable. The film continues to be played at midnight in theatres
worldwide and attracts (primarily) youth from disparate backgrounds.
MacCannell also notes that cultural productions themselves are often dislodged from
their historical antecedents. Furthermore, people often become ‘interested only in the model
or the life-style, not in the life it represents’ (32). Many white middle-class youths
throughout North America and Europe, for example, have developed a passionate interest in
rap and hip-hop music without grasping how the music evolved in African American culture
as a form of resistance to the dominant white culture. A similar phenomenon is at play when
upper middle-class Europeans take on aspects of Rastafarian culture. They can be seen
dressing up and listening to reggae music without grasping the origins of the culture.
MacCannell’s tourists have developed in lock step with modernisation. Contemporary
societies have laid waste to conventional social divisions thereby providing people limitless
options about how to spend their time. Unconstrained from traditional expectations and
conventions, moderns are left to their own resources to fashion a meaningful lifestyle.
MacCannell’s tourist is indeed an apt metaphor of contemporary leisure – we are all tourists
to the extent that self-discovery and authenticity are sought in pastimes that are culturally
and historically disconnected from our everyday life. The Tourist continues to provide
compelling insight into the leisure habits of people living in affluent societies.

David Scott
Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences,
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
dscott@tamu.edu
© 2014, David Scott

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