Roaring tiger, sweet pussy cat: the education of Dean MacCannell

• Julio Aramberri ^[1]
  1. [1] Dongbei University of Finance & Economics (DUFE), Dalian, China
• Localización: Tourism recreation research, ISSN 0250-8281, Vol. 40, Nº. 2, 2015, págs. 234-247
• Idioma: inglés
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo
• Resumen

  • Dean MacCannell's approach to tourism is the closest thing to a general and ambitious theory in an otherwise barren academic landscape. It is difficult to name anyone else in this field so steeped in and, at the same time, so much at ease with the main currents of sociological theory. It takes a lot of self-assertiveness and painful work to discuss tourism, urban planning, marketing and other accoutrements of modern social life in the same stretch as he does. All of his work is in elegant and precise English. However, his well-penned work has been the source of many misguided assumptions that plague tourism research even today. A critical assessment of his intellectual journey seems long overdue. This paper purports to offer both a review of his broad-ranging intellectual evolution and of the theoretical traps he has set for himself – and for his followers.