The Dungeons and the phenomenon 'Dark tourism'
Translated title
The Dungeon og fænomenet 'Dark tourism'
Author
Hull, Brynn Ida Dan
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2017
Submitted on
2017-07-31
Abstract
Mørk turisme betegner rejser til steder, der er forbundet med død, tragedier eller lidelse. Interessen for fænomenet er vokset gennem de sidste to århundreder, og forskere definerer det forskelligt. Stone (2006) foreslår, at attraktioner inden for mørk turisme kan placeres på et spektrum, hvor nogle er "mørkere" end andre. Denne afhandling undersøger definitionerne gennem et casestudie af The Dungeons, en række attraktioner drevet af Merlin Entertainments, og spørger, om de kan klassificeres som mørk turisme, og hvor de placerer sig på Stones spektrum. For at besvare dette bruges kvalitative metoder: deltagerobservation, interviews, en fokusgruppe og analyse af besøgsanmeldelser på Facebook, Google og Trip Advisor. Anmeldelserne blev inddelt i seks oplevelsestemaer: alder, sjov, historie, læring, uhyggeligt og mørk turisme. På den baggrund diskuteres, hvordan The Dungeons forholder sig til idéer om mørk turisme, og på hvilke måder de kan udfordre begrebet.
Dark tourism refers to travel to places connected to death, tragedy or suffering. Interest in this phenomenon has grown over the last two centuries, and scholars define it in different ways. Stone (2006) proposes that dark tourism attractions fall along a spectrum, with some being "darker" than others. This thesis explores these definitions through a case study of The Dungeons, a set of attractions operated by Merlin Entertainments, asking whether they can be classified as dark tourism and where they sit on Stone's spectrum. To address this, the study uses qualitative methods: participant observation, interviews, a focus group, and an analysis of visitor reviews posted on Facebook, Google and Trip Advisor. The reviews were grouped into six experience themes: age, funny, history, learn, scary and dark tourism. These findings are used to discuss how The Dungeons relate to ideas of dark tourism and in what ways they may challenge the concept.
[This abstract was generated with the help of AI]
Keywords
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