Language and Tourism in Postcolonial Settings

Language and Tourism

in Postcolonial Settings

TOURISM AND CULTURAL CHANGE

Series Editors: Professor Mike Robinson, Ironbridge International Institute for Cultural Heritage, University of Birmingham, UK and Professor Alison Phipps, University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK

Understanding tourism’s relationships with culture(s) and vice versa, is of ever-increasing significance in a globalising world. TCC is a series of books that critically examine the complex and ever-changing relationship between tourism and culture(s). The series focuses on the ways that places, peoples, pasts, and ways of life are increasingly shaped/transformed/ created/packaged for touristic purposes. The series examines the ways tourism utilises/makes and re-makes cultural capital in its various guises (visual and performing arts, crafts, festivals, built heritage, cuisine etc.) and the multifarious political, economic, social and ethical issues that are raised as a consequence. Theoretical explorations, research-informed analyses, and detailed historical reviews from a variety of disciplinary perspectives are invited to consider such relationships.

Books in this series are externally peer-reviewed.

Full details of all the books in this series and of all our other publications can be found on http://www.channelviewpublications.com, or by writing to Channel View Publications, St Nicholas House, 31-34 High Street, Bristol BS1 2AW, UK.

TOURISM AND CULTURAL CHANGE: 54

Language and

Tourism in

Postcolonial Settings

Edited by

Angelika Mietzner and

Anne Storch

CHANNEL VIEW PUBLICATIONS

Bristol • Blue Ridge Summit

DOI https://doi.org/10.21832/MIETZN6782

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.

Names: Mietzner, Angelika, editor. | Storch, Anne, editor.

Title: Language and Tourism in Postcolonial Settings/Edited by Angelika Mietzner and Anne Storch.

Description: Bristol, UK; Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Channel View Publications, 2019. | Series: Tourism and Cultural Change: 54 | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018055386 (print) | LCCN 2019002785 (ebook) | ISBN 9781845416799 (pdf) | ISBN 9781845416805 (epub) | ISBN 9781845416812 (Kindle) | ISBN 9781845416782 (hbk : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781845416775 (pbk : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Tourism—Social aspects—Developing countries. | Language and culture—Developing countries. | Sociolinguistics—Developing countries.

Classification: LCC G155.D44 (ebook) | LCC G155.D44 L35 2019 (print) | DDC 306.4/819—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018055386

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN-13: 978-1-84541-678-2 (hbk)

ISBN-13: 978-1-84541-677-5 (pbk)

Channel View Publications

UK: St Nicholas House, 31-34 High Street, Bristol BS1 2AW, UK.

USA: NBN, Blue Ridge Summit, PA, USA.

Website: www.channelviewpublications.com

Twitter: Channel_View

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/channelviewpublications

Blog: www.channelviewpublications.wordpress.com

Copyright © 2019 Angelika Mietzner, Anne Storch and the authors of individual chapters.

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher.

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Contents

Contributors

Preface: cape coast caper

Tawona Sitholé

1 Linguistic Entanglements, Emblematic Codes and Representation in Tourism: Introduction

Angelika Mietzner and Anne Storch

2 Transformations of the ‘Tourist Gaze’: Landscaping and the Linguist behind the Lens

Christiane M. Bongartz

3 Backpacking Performances: An Empirical Contribution

Luís Cronopio

4 ‘We Have Our Own Africans’: Public Displays of Z ā r in Iran

Sara Zavaree

5 Cameras as Barriers of Understanding: Reflections on a Philanthropic Journey to Kenya

Angelika Mietzner

6 Heritage Tourism and the Freak Show: A Study on Names, Horror, Race and Gender

Anne Storch

7 Postcolonial Performativity in the Philippine Heritage Tourism Industry

Raymund Vitorio

8 The Hakuna Matata Swahili: Linguistic Souvenirs from the Kenyan Coast

Nico Nassenstein

Afterword: Between Silence and Noise: Towards an Entangled Sociolinguistics of Tourism

Adam Jaworski

Bookend: cape ghost

Alison Phipps

Index

Contributors

Christiane M. Bongartz is Professor of English Linguistics at the University of Cologne. Her research focuses on the understanding of languaging: how are languages learned and used in multilingual contexts? Situated at the intersection of traditional psycho- and sociolinguistic perspectives, her projects are increasingly concerned with the deconstruction of these paradigms. Forthcoming publications include a volume on narratives in bilingual research in her series Inquiries in Language Learning (Peter Lang) and a research report on referential production in Linguistic Approaches to Bilingualism with Jacopo Torregrossa and Ianthi Tsimpli. She is advising editor of the journal The Mouth.

Luís Cronopio is a master student and researcher of African Culture at the University of Cologne. His academic background combines nursing sciences, tropical health and anthropology. His main research interests focus on political philosophy, art history of the 20th century, socio-anthropology of health and anthropology of drugs.

Adam Jaworski is Chair Professor of Sociolinguistics at the School of English, University of Hong Kong. He was formely at Adam Mickiewicz University Poznań, Birkbeck University of London and Cardiff University. His research interests include language and globalisation, display of languages in space, media discourse, nonverbal communication and text-based art. His most recent book is The Elite Discourse (Routledge, 2018, with Crispin Thurlow). He is a member of the editorial board of the following journals: Discourse, Context & Media, Discourse & Society, Journal of Language and Politics, Journal of Sociolinguistics, Language in Society, Linguistic Landscape, The Mouth, Multilingua and Visual Communication, among others. With Brook Bolander, he co-edits the Oxford University Press book series, Oxford Studies in Sociolinguistics.

Angelika Mietzner is a research fellow at the Institute for African Studies and Egyptology, University of Cologne. Her research interests cover descriptive and sociolinguistic aspects of Nilotic languages, language styles in fleeting relationships and tourism, and critical heritage studies. Her main research was conducted in Kenya where topics of all research interests can be met.

Nico Nassenstein is Junior Professor (assistant professor) of African Linguistics at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. His main focus is on sociolinguistics, especially related to contexts of migration, globalisation, conflict and tourism. He is interested in matters of language change, variation and diversity and has mainly worked on the languages Kiswahili, Lingala and Kinyarwanda-Kirundi (East and Central Africa). He has recently developed a strong interest in changing language practices in tourism contexts, both along the East African coast and in Majorca, Spain. Currently, he is co-editing a special issue of the Journal of Language and Culture with colleagues from Cairns (Australia) and Cologne (Germany), and a volume on swearing and cursing with Anne Storch. Nico Nassenstein is co-editor of the journals Afrikanistik-Ägyptologie-Online (AAeO), Swahili Forum and The Mouth.

Alison Phipps is UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts at the University of Glasgow, Professor of Languages and Intercultural Studies, and Co-convener of the Glasgow Refugee, Asylum and Migration Network. She received an OBE in 2012, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Academy of Social Sciences. Alison regularly advises public, governmental and third sector bodies on migration, arts and languages policy and was appointed Chair of the New Scots Core Group in 2018. Author of numerous books and articles, she is a published poet and a regular international keynote speaker and broadcaster.

Tawona Sitholé, better known as Ganyamatope (my ancestral family name), my heritage inspires me to make connections with other people through creativity, and the natural outlook to learn. I am widely published as a poet and playwright, and short story author. A storyteller and musician, I am co-founder of Seeds of Thought, a non-funded arts group. I am currently UNESCO artist-in-residence at the University of Glasgow, with research and teaching roles in the school of education and medical school. Other educational roles are with Glasgow School of Art, University of the West of Scotland, University of Stirling and Newcastle University

Anne Storch is Professor of African Linguistics at the University of Cologne. Her work combines contributions to cultural and social contexts of languages, the semiotics of linguistic practices, colonial linguistics, heteroglossia and register variation, epistemic language and metalinguistics, as well as linguistic description. Her publications include Secret Manipulations (2011), A Grammar of Luwo (2014), and several other volumes. A book on linguistics and tourism written by her and Ingo Warnke and a volume on colonial linguistics, co-edited together with Ana Deumert and Nick Shepherd, are forthcoming. She is co-editor of the journal The Mouth (https://themouthjournal.com/).

Raymund Vitorio is a joint PhD candidate (Language Studies) at the National University of Singapore and King’s College London. His dissertation explores the discursive construction of citizenship in Singapore through the lens of linguistic ethnography and metapragmatics. His research interests also include the sociolinguistics of globalization, linguistic landscapes, tourism, and performativity.

Sara Zavaree is a PhD candidate at the Institute of African Studies and Egyptology in the University of Cologne and is currently working on Zār spirit possession rituals in southern Iran. Her research interests include ritual studies, the Indian Ocean (slave) trade networks and the history of slavery in the Persian Gulf.

Preface

cape coast caper

Tawona Sitholé

if there is one thing

about this place

it’s the noise

the many many volumes

of history

the rusty rusty ringing

of decibels

the ruthless lashes

of the waves

the fiery rage

of the sea

the high-pitched voices

of the traders

trying

to shout above each other

trying

to shout above the noise

it’s more than you can stand

in the discord

the wind is whistling

you must leave it here

your name

you must leave it here

otherwise

they won’t let you past

and so you do

and as you enter

in the discord

the wind is whistling

gold coast cape coast

put on your mask

put on your mask

for the mask’eraid

gold coast cape coast

put on your cape

put on your cape

for the escapade

the mass parade

the mass parade

they all line up for

the mass parade

and as they fade

what appears to be your guide appears

and starts walking

instinctively you follow the momentum

but this only leads to a stall

with percussive triangles

with shirts and blouses

with hearts on sleeves

fancy tightrope

to skip a generation

soothing lotions

and

calming creams

to rub on wounds

and paste on scars

it’s more than you can take

the guide is speaking

but is drowning

in the discord

instead

what you can hear

is a spirited voice

not loud

but crisp

against the noise

this is not why i came

this is not what i came

to be

known as

known for

a shadow steals by

can’t tell whether

a vendor

defender

or

pretender

the one thing about this place

is the appearance

facing the sea

the darkened house

with whitewashed walls

with rooms rooms

passages and guns

pointing in all directions

at invisible enemies

and beneath

the courtyard

tunnels tunnels

cavities and cells

with no

no windows

you could swear

this house is darkening

you could swear

these walls are whitening

it’s more than you can stand

in the discord

the wind keeps whistling

the mask’eraid

the escapade

they all line up for

the mass parade

and as they fade

you wonder whether

the other visitors

can see them too

the shadows

and the more you look

the less you see

the less there seems to be

the guide is walking

instinctively you follow the momentum

but this only leads to another stall

with hides hidden

in exquisite bracelets

in a variety of complexions

shades and tones

some for wrists

some for ankles

some for minds

it’s more than you can take

the guide is speaking

but is drowning

in the discord

instead

what you can hear

is a spirited voice

not loud

but clear

above the noise

borrowed time

has side effects

and too many to count

like visits of the tide

another shadow steals by

can’t tell whether

a dweller

seller

or

sell-out

the guide is walking

instinctively you follow the momentum

but this only leads to another stall

with refreshments

special brew

a blend

of floods

of held-back tears

of cocktails

of emotions

one sip

sharp taste

two sips

bitter taste

it’s more than you can take

in the discord

the wind keeps whistling

the mask’eraid

the escapade

they all line up for

the mass parade

and as they fade

the guide is speaking

but is drowning

in the discord

instead

what you can hear

is a spirited voice

not loud

but clean

across the noise

when will this end

in fact

when will this begin

i don’t want to leave

but

take me to another place

one thing about this place

is the atmosphere

only thing that comes close

is the utmost fear

just like a restless survivor

the air is never still

and

between areas of pressure

winds keep blowing

nothing more chilling

than a trade wind

that keeps whistling

after the home is blown

and this one lingers

on the opaque walls

between

long unbroken silences

between

quiet solemn reflections

some of what is

blown in

some of who are

blown away

in the

unending argument

between land and sea

land is solid

water is fluid

sun is smiling

wind is whistling

and

heart is beating

seems like any other

ordinary day

but this is not any other

ordinary place

on any day

at any time

by any law

in any tongue

what happened

happens

here

lies beyond

this final

point of

the tour

the door

of no return

in the discord

you seem to hear

what seems to lie

beyond

seems like

the wind is whistling

not sure if

the voices are

sounds of harm

or

harmony

gold coast cape coast

put on your mask

put on your mask

for the mask’eraid

gold coast cape coast

put on your cape

put on your cape

for the escapade

the mass parade

the mass parade

they all line up for

the mass parade

1 Linguistic Entanglements, Emblematic Codes and Representation in Tourism: Introduction

Angelika Mietzner and Anne Storch

We begin with a banal example. In this image (Figure 1.1), a group of souvenirs are placed on the sand of Diani Beach in Kenya. These objects form part of a larger supply of carvings that are found in a dozen or so souvenir stalls in front of a hotel that caters to international, though mostly German, package tourists.

What is offered to these tourists are carvings of animals that they might have seen and taken pictures of during a safari to a national park that usually takes place prior to the beach holiday. There are also masks, bowls and candleholders that will help to create memories of the ‘real Africa’ one has been to: exotic, mysterious and traditional. Upon asking the souvenir vendors – men well in their fifties with decades of experience in the business – who designs these objects and who accounts for the entire assortment at sale here, the men replied that almost all the designs came from Europe or were at least decided upon there. Traders in the Netherlands and in Germany, they said, would select certain objects out of an entire catalogue of souvenirs at offer, and have them carved and painted in Kenya. The beach is just a small part of the business; Christmas markets, one-world emporiums and interior decoration shops are more profitable and reliable, the men claimed. Creativity is controlled by those who own these businesses: fair-trade and pro-poor organisations and arts and crafts dealers in Europe.

We (two linguists with a specialisation in African linguistics and professional experiences that almost always relate to postcolonial and neocolonial spaces) asked the men about the story behind the midsized figures that are in the centre of the picture: three black statues with red paint on their hands, bellies and buttocks, and with exaggerated heads turned to the beholder. Wide-eyed stares fixate us, and we look at a mouth that contains white, bared teeth. The entire figure looks like the caricature of the cannibal, the ultimate Other. The vendors explained that these sculptures were part of an entire set that represents ‘characteristic Africans’: Maasai, Somali, Makonde and Ghanaians. The figures in question are Ghanaians, we are told. ‘There are no cannibals here,’ a vendor concluded.

Figure 1.1 Figures on a beach (photo A. Storch)

This is a sentence that sounds familiar after having been to the beach even for just a couple of days, where we worked on a project that deals with the acquisition and use of heteroglossic repertoires there. This beach is not only a business area for souvenir vendors, but also of people who offer anything from a necklace to sex. A visit to the beach and a swim in the warm waters entails haggling it seems, though not so much over the price of a certain object or service, but rather over the beach itself: in order to go there, does one have to buy or may one turn down what is offered? The following dialogue is one among many similar ones that were recorded at Diani Beach in September 2017; a beach vendor, or beach boy, approaches a tourist, a woman from Germany who stays in the same hotel we are staying in, by greeting her in a form of Swahili that is largely reserved for tourism communication (Nassenstein, 2016 & this volume). The woman, who has explained that she finds it difficult to relate to the many dealers at the beach, replies only reluctantly, perhaps trying to fulfil a minimum of politeness, but moves on without returning the offered greeting gesture. The vendor tries to attract more attention by suggesting that they have already met, but he receives just another refusal, a faint waving and a nod of her head. At the end of the encounter, the beach vendor seems to suggest that there is no need to be so reluctant, or even afraid, this is a safe space, no cannibals here:

Vendor   Jambo!

‘Hi!’

Tourist   Äh jambo!

‘Mh, hi!’

Vendor   Aber hallo, ich hab dich schön gesehn!

‘Wow, hello, I have already/nicely seen you!’

Tourist   Jaja...

‘Well, well.’

Vendor   Wir sind hier keine Kannibalen, wir beißen nicht. Wir fressen dich nicht.

‘We are no cannibals over here, we won’t bite. We won’t eat you.’