Duncan Light

‘Facing the future’: tourism and identity-building in post-socialist Romania

Abstract Tourism is an important component of the process of identity-building, representing one way in which a country can seek to project a particular self-image to the wider international community. As such, tourism has considerable ideological significance for the formerly socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe that are seeking to project and affirm distinctly post-socialist identities as part of the process of re-integration into the political and economic structures of Western Europe. This paper focuses on tourism and identity-building in post-socialist Romania. In particular, it focuses on one building — the so-called ‘House of the People’ — which is intimately linked with Romania’s totalitarian past and which is fast becoming Bucharest’s biggest tourist sight. The presentation of the building to tourists seeks to ‘reconfigure’ its past so that it accords better with Romania’s post-socialist identity, and particularly its aspirations to (re)establish itself as a country of ‘mainstream’ Europe.

Characteristics of the audience for ‘events’ at a heritage site

Abstract This paper reports a case study of the characteristics of visitors to special ‘events’ (in this case historical re-enactments) at a heritage site (Caerphilly Castle) in South Wales. By comparing the characteristics of visitors on event and non-event days it was apparent that the events had particular appeal to local people and were successful at encouraging repeat visits. However, in terms of sociodemographic characteristics, visitors on event days were similar to those on non-event days, and there was no evidence that events at the castle were broadening the market and attracting those groups (particularly manual workers and young people) who were under-represented at such sites. Neither did the events have any particular appeal to families. Visitors to events enjoyed their visit, stayed longer than average and showed greater support for costumed interpreters than those on non-event days. Moreover, despite claims that re-enactments have little educational value, a large proportion of event days visitors considered that they had learned something from their visit.

Street names in Bucharest, 1990-1997: exploring the modern historical geographies of post-socialist change

Abstract The renaming of streets is a significant, if often overlooked, aspect of post-socialist change in Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. Such renamings are one manifestation of the ‘reconfiguring’ of both space and history which is a central component of post-socialist transformations. Street name changes are part of the process of creating new public iconographic landscapes which accord with the values of post-socialist regimes and the study of such changes can offer significant insights into ways in which post-socialist states are redefining national identities and national pasts. This paper focuses on the renaming of streets in Bucharest, Romania over the 1990–1997 period as one component of the ‘modern historical geographies’ of post-socialist change. A central theme in street name changes has been the evocation of the pre-socialist period, which has been increasingly constructed in terms of Romanias ‘Golden Age’.

Place, national identity and post-socialist transformations: an introduction

Abstract This paper serves as an introduction to this theme issue on the topic of post-socialist identity politics surrounding nation building, national identity and nationalism. It presents an overview of the key processes of post-socialist identity formation in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the former Soviet Union (FSU) in order to contextualise this collection of papers. This introduction outlines the key processes of identity formation and the treatment of nationalism under conditions of state-socialism, and then identifies the main processes of identity formation which have emerged in discourses surrounding nations and nationalities in post-socialist CEE and the FSU. A short account of each of the papers in the theme issue is then presented to identify the common strands of their analyses of post-socialist nationalisms.

Market-based product development in heritage tourism.

Abstract This paper uses data gathered at a number of heritage sites in Wales to consider meso-scale (that is, regional and subregional) variations in demand for heritage tourism. In particular it is possible to identify distinct regional markets within Wales for some aspects of demand. The implications of these meso-scale variations in demand for product development (especially heritage interpretation) and marketing strategies are examined.

Romanian tourism in the post-communist period.

Abstract This paper examines tourism development in post-communist Romania. It first examines tourism trends between 1989 and 1997. International arrivals are faltering, due to political/economic instability since 1989, the legacy of a decaying tourism infrastructure, and poor standards of service. Post-communist economic restructuring has significantly depressed domestic tourism, with the accommodation sector also declining. This leads to a discussion on tourism restructuring, particularly the privatization of accommodation, the introduction and regulation of standards for it, and the training/education of tourism personnel. Next, future prospects are considered, specially rural, heritage and cultural tourism. The paper concludes that, despite Romanias considerable tourism potential, the immediate future prospects are not encouraging.

Performing Transylvania: Tourism, fantasy and play in a liminal place

In recent years there has been increasing attention on tourism as a form of performance. Moreover, some recent work has focused on the role of tourist performances in the making (and remaking) of tourist places. This article explores these issues with reference to Transylvania, Romania, through ethnographic fieldwork with a group of Western tourists visiting Transylvania for Halloween. It was clear that, for these tourists, their visit to Transylvania was firmly grounded in what they brought with them from their home cultures. In particular, the whole visit was circumscribed by an enduring place-myth of Transylvania as the home of Dracula and vampires. During their holiday, these tourists enthusiastically engaged with this myth through fantasy, imagination-work and embodied play. Thus, these tourists were not simply encountering Transylvania — instead they were performing a Transylvania as they imagined it to be. In doing so, they were actively reconstituting the Transylvania place myth.

European Union enlargement, post-accession migration and imaginative geographies of the ‘New Europe’: media discourses in Romania and the United Kingdom

This paper is concerned with re-imaginings of ‘Europe’ following the accession to the European Union (EU) of former ‘Eastern European’ countries. In particular it explores media representations of post-EU accession migration from Romania to the United Kingdom in the UK and Romanian newspaper press. Todorovas (1997) notion of Balkanism is deployed as a theoretical construct to facilitate the analysis of these representations as first, the continuation of long-standing and deeply embedded imaginings of the ‘East’ of Europe and, second, as a means of contesting these discourses. The paper explores the way in which the UK press construct Balkanist discourses about Romania and Romanian migrants, and then analyses how the Romanian press has contested such discourses. The paper argues that the idea of the ‘East’ remains important in constructing notions of ‘Europe’ within popular media geographies.

Habit, Memory, and the Persistence of Socialist-Era Street Names in Postsocialist Bucharest, Romania

The critical study of toponymy has paid considerable attention to the renaming of urban places following revolutionary political change. Such renaming is intended to institutionalize a new political agenda through shaping the meanings in everyday practices and landscapes. Renaming, however, might not always be successful, and this article examines this issue with reference to a market in Bucharest, Romania. Originally named Piaţa Moghioroş during the socialist era to commemorate a leading Communist Party activist, the market was renamed in the postsocialist period. Yet, more than two decades on, the original name remains in widespread everyday use. Using a mixed-method approach, we seek to advance the critical toponymies literature by exploring the persistence of the socialist-era name within everyday practice. Although many authors have highlighted the issue of popular resistance to an unpopular renaming, we find little evidence of conscious resistance, and instead we explore the importance of habit within everyday practices as an explanation, drawing on an understanding of habit derived from sociocognitive psychology. This perspective proposes that habits are stable and hard to break if the broader context in which they are situated is stable. We suggest that this explanation, rather than popular contestation, has more to offer in understanding the persistence of the toponym Piaţa Moghioroş. We thus highlight the importance of considering how the “users” of place names react to the changes of such names and create their own meanings in relation to them in ways unintended by elites.

Tourism and toponymy: commodifying and consuming place names

Academic geographers have a long history of studying both tourism and place names, but have rarely made linkages between the two. Within critical toponymic studies there is increasing debate about the commodification of place names, but to date the role of tourism in this process has been almost completely overlooked. In some circumstances, toponyms can become tourist sights based on their extraordinary properties, their broader associations within popular culture, or their role as metanyms for some other aspect of a place. Place names may be sights in their own right or ‘markers’ of a sight and, in some cases, the marker may be more significant than the sight to which it refers. The appropriation of place names through tourism also includes the production and consumption of a broad range of souvenirs based on reproductions or replicas of the material signage that denote place names. Place names as attractions are also associated with a range of performances by tourists, and in some cases visiting a place name can be a significant expression of fandom. In some circumstances, place names can be embraced and promoted by tourism marketing strategies and are, in turn, drawn into broader circuits of the production and consumption of tourist space.