B.A. M.A. (York), Ph.D. (Trent)
Thesis: Framing Maya Culture: Tourism, Representation and the Case of Quetzaltenango
Examining Committee:
Elizabeth Ermarth (Supervisor), James Penney, Ihor Junyk
External Examiner: Lena Mortensen, University of Toronto
Internal Examiner: Anne Meneley
Chair: Alan O'Connor
Abstract
This dissertation investigates symbolic and political dimensions of the representation of Maya culture for global tourist consumption. After tracing the nineteenth-century origins of a western fascination with Maya culture, I demonstrate how three classic tropes remain prevalent in mainstream media representations of Guatemala’s thriving Maya tourism sector. I then compare representations of Maya culture in guidebooks, websites and other popular texts with a shift away from dominant representational logic in alternative tourist media. By combining critical discourse analysis with ethnographic field research in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, I offer a detailed picture of the shifting dynamics of tourist representation in developing communities.