Possibly one of the most fascinating things I'm finding within my research is how much or how little death really has to do with Dark Tourism. While it may be called something else--grief tourism, prison tourism, ghost tourism--it still falls under the Dark Tourism umbrella. A site does not need to have death to be within it. Stress, harsh punishments, disaster, all of these can be what the site entails. If it is outfitted for entertainment or tourism purposes, it uses its darkness for just that, Dark Tourism.
Prisons are very popular here, and while my thesis pertains specifically to places of violent death, I will be talking about the relation of just darkness and the death itself. Darkness manifests itself from any place where suffering takes place. This does not even have to be from human suffering, but animal suffering as well. Even used items can take up a feeling of 'darkness' have you ever been to a junk-yard or archives after hours? A human impression and past can leave a lasting 'atmosphere' on an object.
Jean,
ReplyDeleteI admire your passionate in your research with Dark Tourism, even through these topics often become overlooked. This topic reminds me of couple of films with Johnny Depp, how he demonstrated violence with darkness and took up the identity of a gruesome, murderously character with a touch of art in it like Sweeney Todd, the demonic barber.
Keep up with the great works.