Staged Authenticity The Tourist, A New Theory of the Leisure Class, Dean MacCannell In Chapter five of Dan MacCannell's

book, The Tourist, he outlines the tension regarding staged and questioned authenticity in the modern world. He begins this discussion by describing the modern world. In this world we are constantly questioning our existence, as well as the authenticity of our experiences. We have come to see our history, day to day activities, and work environments as being detached from their traditional roots. This detachment causes us to now view these interactions as cultural productions and experiences. As a result we have become obsessed with making a production and a fetish of urban public street life, rural village life and traditional domestic relations. MacCannell highlights the trend that people are becoming less interested in living or identifying with their own experiences, but rather have an increased interest in the real lives of others. In the modern world the concepts of reality, truth and non-truth become dictated through social norms and conventions. The process of acting out, or preforming, these truths becomes most important. The remainder of this chapter is largely based around the wittings of Ervin Goffman, a Canadian sociologist best known for his work describing social interactions as dramatic productions. In his writing Goffman uses the terms front and back regions to describe the varying types of social experiences. The front regions are places like parlors, store fronts, offices, and show rooms. They are places designed to receive and host guests. The back regions are described as kitchens, break-rooms, rehearsal spaces, and bedrooms. They are the private spaces where people go to relax, act naturally, and prepare. They are purposely not open to the public, and are therefore also the most coveted spaces outsiders dream to discover. It is also important to note that because back regions are purposefully closed-off, sustaining a firm sense of social reality requires some social mystification. This means that because it is commonly accepted that all experiences are a performance it is important to supply the appropriate costumes and props so as not to break the illusions being communicated. One of the examples they give to illustrate this idea of mystification is the process of injecting nitrates into hams in order to make them look more pink, appetizing and generally more ham-like. Because society lives in constant fear that the social divide between front and back regions might be broken it is commonly accepted, and encouraged, that these mystifications occur. Within this division of front and back regions, also exists the associations of front regions with show and back regions with intimate, real and authentic. MacCannell further relates this concept of front and back regions to the variety of possible tourist experiences. He builds his argument from the premise that all tourists are in some way looking to have a back region or authentic experience while traveling. The text contains many examples of how people experience, hope to experience, or criticize other peoples experiences depending on the varying degrees of authenticity they represent. Our society has become such that tourist settings and spaces have become very common. A heavily used marketing tool; these stages are seen everywhere ranging from cheesy theme-restaurants to trendy clothing shops. Returning once again to Goffmann, in this chapter the six structures of an authentic experience are mapped out: Stage one: the front region or type of experience that tourists are most commonly trying to go beyond. Stage two: A touristic front region that has been decorated to appear... like a back region. (ie. Fake cheese and salami hanging in the front region of an Italian restaurant, antique reproduction clothing mannequins that displaying mass-produced garments in a trendy teen clothing shop). Stage three: A front region that is carefully designed to look like a back region, except for the fact that it only exists as a service to the tourist. (ie. The tourist villages in northern Thailand where the woman of the Karen (long-Neck) Tribes come to work on and sell hand-crafts to tourists. The tourists can walk through this village, and see first hand the process of creating these things, but in a totally manufactured setting, something almost akin to a human zoo. )

Stage four: A back region that is open to outsiders... (but) access to most non-touristic back regions is somewhat restricted. Such as a restaurants that offers a very authentic experience, Italian food cooked by Italian immigrants and eaten in a room decorated with Italian sensibilities, however the kitchen and back rooms will always remain off limits. Stage five: Is a back region that has been cleaned up, or used under the premise that outsiders will occasionally be able to visit these spaces. (ie. An artist's studio that is open to the public to what the creation of new work, a restaurant offering people to sit at a table in the kitchen, or going behind the scene to see the inter-workings of a factory.) Stage Six: Is this back region that tourists dream of accessing, but will never truly be able to visit. MacCannell further goes on to talk about the conflict and snobbery existing between tourists, travelers and intellectuals. These groups uses the different stages of authenticity to identify and criticize other groups for having what is seen as a less-authentic experience. The painful reality is that regardless of how authentic or inauthentic an experience is perceived to be, it can never be anything more that a contrived tourist experience. No one can participate in his own life; he can only participate in the lives of others. Despite this, as a society we are still drawn to travel stories, and continue to look for authentic experiences in order to quench our obsession with the lives of others. An interesting text addressing the varying theatrical stages of a tourist experience. We would recommend this text to anyone interested in creating authentic experiences, and in need of social theory to support their artistic approach.