Liminality and authenticity: a journey into the ritual and existential dimensions of tourism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10403336Keywords:
Authenticity, Existential Authenticity, Communitas, Liminality, RitualAbstract
This short essay seeks to reconstruct the journey that connects the two major theoretical paradigms of the Sociology of Tourism that explore the idea that the tourist experience can induce significant changes in the travelling subject: the theory of tourist liminality - derived from the Anthropology of Ritual - and the notion of Existential Authenticity, whose foundations are rooted in the Existentialist Philosophy. According to the theory of liminality, the tourist trip constitutes a symbolic process of marking time and the stages of life, having a structure similar to the ritual process, through which the traveler/tourist leaves places that are familiar to him (a moment of separation ) to a destination (liminal space-time), subsequently returning to the place of origin (reintegration). This situation of liminality generates a deep feeling of togetherness (communitas) towards other human beings and a temporary dissolution of social hierarchies. The notion of Existential Authenticity refers to a special state of Being that is triggered by tourist experiences, during which individuals have the opportunity to be true to themselves and to their values and convictions.Brief stops are made in some of the declinations of the theme of Authenticity in tourism, in the notions of flow, co-creation and the transformational power of tourism. It ends with a light criticism of the main opponents of those two approaches, specifically, the defenders of the so-called “de-differentiation theory”.
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